Pokemon Ebony and Ivory
by Wreckless Abandoned
Summary: A decade has passed since the 2nd fall of Cipher, and Orre has changed dramatically. But as the saying goes; the more things change, the more they stay the same. A new Shadow plagues the region, and new champions must rise to the challenge. Rated M for swearing, pokephilia, and other adult situations. Contains male human and female Pokemon romance.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Checkered Pasts

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I only can claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

It has been 10 years since Michael, a young trainer from the Pokémon HQ, vanquished the second incursion of Cipher, a terrorist cell responsible for the creation of Shadow Pokémon, using the Snag Machine. Together with his Eevee partner, the duo defeated countless Cipher Peons and Admins, Snagged back every Shadow Pokémon Cipher created, and even purified XD-001, a corrupted Lugia that supposedly had no hope of re-opening its heart. Since then, Orre has undergone a large transformation.

More inhabitable biomes have sprouted up, and the population of wild Pokémon has increased dramatically. (Likely with help from the rescued Pokémon from Wes and Michael's campaigns against Cipher) The port town of Gateon has evolved from a small locale, to a bustling city. Being the primary location that Pokémon were introduced to the region, Gateon drew in a lot of attention. Traders, tech companies, banks, even several industrial plants found a way to make a profit by setting up shop there. But the once-humble town never lost its seedy underbelly. Corruption and under-the-table deals were as prevalent as ever, maybe even more so when the Underground began collapsing and Pyrite law enforcement rose.

This is where this story truly begins, following the experience of one of Gateon's most successful opportunist, and his two partners who would help him become an agent of change to the wide world of Pokémon…

* * *

A black sedan with tinted windows pulls into an "abandoned" warehouse under the cover of night. Sparse illumination from a few flood lamps were the only providers of light, as the windows were all boarded up with 'Condemned!' painted on the outside and the overhead lights were all blown out.

When the car is turned off, two masked occupants quickly step out. The driver is quick to rip off his balaclava in a fit of anger. "How, in Arceus' name, did you get me to agree to raid Prophet Tech!?" Malcolm shouted as he slammed the car door.

Malcolm is a 5'10" 25 year old Caucasian man with black, slicked back hair, light stubble, deep blue eyes, and boasting a fairly thin frame. He had some muscle tone, as his life kept him reasonably active, but didn't really have much to brag about, save his self-proclaimed 'pretty face.'

"Because we BOTH know that having this kind of key code can open some interesting doors, and these doors are all too likely to fork over some more interesting swag." Jackie said, as he casually yanked off his mask and whipping it around as if to wave off Malcolm's raving. "And you know I always know how to get the best payout." He then turned away from the car and began shambling deeper into the building

Jackie is a 36 year old man from Kanto. When he moved to Gateon Port 3 years ago, he enlisted some of the local ' thugs', including Malcolm, for a series of jobs. They never managed to reach Jackie's ultimate goal of heisting a bank, but they did make quite a name for themselves in the Underground. Most of the original crew disbanded after their brief stent together, except for Malcolm and Jackie. As months turned to years, Jackie spent his time building up a stockpile of illicit cargo for various 'investors', as Malcolm turned to pursue the more nuanced tasks of freelance hacking and espionage. You'd be surprised by how suspicious the 'friendly' companies are of each other around Gateon, and would pay a pretty penny to those who were successful at spying and stealing. In other words; he prefers to get payed to steal stuff.

"And the best ways to get us killed…" Malcolm cursed under his breath. "…Or worse! You know that place scares the hell out of me."

Malcolm began following his old accomplice and took in the sights of the fruits of Jackie's labors. Everything from stolen fine wines waiting for fencing to unlicensed weapons were all randomly scattered around the aisles they passed.

"Yeah, I heard you the first dozen times about them. 'Even their access points have armed guards' or 'their network security makes the capital's look like the Krabby Club's Wi-Fi'"

"I heard about this one kid who actually managed to breach their systems by sheer luck and had some suits show up in his apartment an hour later… there's no way they won't figure out how we got in. If they can get clearance to watch public cameras…"

"Whoop-di-do..!" Jackie started waving his arms above his head sarcastically. "Those are just rumors and speculation, nothing more. You 'techies' just love making mountains out of mole hills, huh? No company, no matter how big, has that kind of power. Now grow a pair and come on."

This wasn't the first time Jackie was dismissive of Malcolm's concerns, but every man has his limits. "I'm out."

It wasn't a request, but it certainly gave Malcolm Jackie's full attention.

Jackie turned to face Malcolm's still form so fast he stumbled a little. "Nuh-uh. No way" He began jabbing a finger towards his most trusted associate. "You're in way too deep no-"

"Not anymore" Malcolm interrupted "I'm washing my hands of this job and _this_ thing" He tossed the flash drive containing the skeleton key to Jackie.

"But…"

"No buts. I want payment for this latest blunder of yours and I'm calling it a night." He shifted to a more withdrawn stance with arms crossed over his chest.

"Hmph! You know what? Fine, there are some things that I could part with around here anyway." Jackie angrily stormed off with Malcolm hot on his heels.

* * *

Unintelligible shouting roused an Eevee from her slumber. She checked the status of her twin sister, another Eevee, but with a silver coat instead of her standard brown and cream fur. They were both thin from malnourishment and their coats were beginning to thin more evident by the larger than average amount of hair littering the floor of their shared kennel, but she was otherwise unharmed.

They were abducted (not 'caught') from their den one night by this disturbingly uncoordinated human about a week and a half ago when he offered them food that turned out to be laced with muscle relaxants. Their mother always spoke so highly of humans so they were quick to trust him, and his awkward stumbling made him easy to underestimate, but it was just a rouse. Since then, they had been crammed into a cage roughly half the size of their former home and fed once every other day. Combining that with the minimal exercise afforded to them being held in captivity led to muscular atrophy.

The shouting started getting louder and clearer, and she began to recognize the voice of her captor so she started shaking her silver sister awake. "Sis... Sis! Wake up already. Someone's coming!"

Light snoring was her only response.

Rolling her eyes, the brown Eevee sat up on her haunches to safeguard her sister in case of trouble.

* * *

"So lemme get this straight; you want to pay me back for helping you infiltrate one of the more well-guarded facilities in the region to steal a digital skeleton key so you can sneak into _another_ probably even more well-guarded building and make off with something either extremely dangerous or highly illegal with something in here you can't even find a buyer for. I miss anything?" Malcolm asked incredulously.

He'd been following Jackie to the far back corner of the warehouse looking through his assortment of illicit cargo.

"No, that about covers it. You want the big payout; you stay till completion. You know the rules." Jackie said as he sifted through a crate lying on its side and grabbed something that Malcolm couldn't quite see.

As he held out his hand expectantly, Jackie abruptly turned around again and stumbled off; leaving a now confused Malcolm in his wake. Sighing, he followed.

It wasn't much longer before they finally reached their destination; a dark, smelly crate in a more derelict portion or the storehouse. Malcolm pulled out a pocket flashlight he used during the raid to inspect its contents more thoroughly.

Inside was pair of Eevee. And one of them was silver! There was another normal one inside that was actually awake, and even glowering at them, but a _shiny_. In Orre! Any wild Pokémon was rare sight in the region with terraforming still occurring, let alone any with the rare pigmentations of a shiny Pokémon.

After the initial shock of the revelation passed, Malcolm began a more objective investigation of the pair. The most obvious observation was how emetic they both were. Their fur was unkempt and thinning. One was passed out, despite his and Jackie's approach wasn't exactly subtle. The other brown one had bags under its eyes, indicating it wasn't much better off. And overall, they just looked miserable.

As Malcolm was ogling the cage's occupants, Jackie revealed what he retrieved; a Luxury Ball.

Without a word, he activated the ball and pointed the button in the front at the sleeping Eevee. The brown one gasped and dodged the recall beam and watched helplessly as the beam passed her by and envelop it's sleeping companion in a red glow before vanishing entirely. With the recall complete, he tossed the ball to Malcolm and turned. "Come on; let's go get her registered to your trainer account."

"'Her?'"

"Yup, checked after I caught them. Only one in every eight Eevee hatched are female. That, on top of the far lower chance of a shiny hatching at all, leaves you with a Pokémon as rare as some Legendries. If anything, I've over-compensated you for your supposed 'troubles.'" Jackie chided as he paused, waiting for his accomplice.

"Then how were you having so much trouble moving her?" While Malcolm was ecstatic about getting his hands on something so rare, his moral code (loose as it was) was nagging at him. Trafficking was not his criminal niche, let alone trafficking living creatures. Ruining the lives and livelihoods of some corrupt businessman or a representative with no conscience, he could do. Condemning some poor girl or 'mon to a fate worse than death wasn't in his wheelhouse.

Waving off his question, Jackie replied. "I dunno man, something about some conman jackass who gets off on selling painted Magikarp, or some shit. Now quit lollygagging and move your ass. I'm due for a nap." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to emphasis his point.

He was about to comply when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. When he turned to investigate, Malcolm saw something that threatened to haunt his conscience for the rest of his days.

The Eevee that was still in the crate was looking him dead in the eye. The thing is, there was no malice or anger in its visage, just devastated acceptance. If he had to put it to words, he would say that it looked like it was just hopelessly awaiting death. That spark of life that most anyone had, that glimmer of hope for better days and happy endings was just… gone. It was like the small fox could see right through him for miles. Mouth agape, tail lifeless, ears drooped like lead was attached to the tips. If a stiff breeze blew past them, the poor thing may very well just fall over. It wore an expression of pure, unrestrained despair.

And he hated that expression.

"What about this one?" He asked, pointing to the Eevee.

"What about her? Like I said, 'full reward upon full completion.'"

"Even so. Why hold onto _her_ then? You couldn't even sell the shiny one before me, remember?"

Jackie nonchalantly replied "Eh, it wouldn't be hard to find a buyer for this one though without drawing too much attention. There are plenty of reservations that would probably appreciate having her around for a more modest price. There are farms popping up all over the place looking for a breeding bitch to increase her species population in the region."

"Tch, _that's_ your endgame for keeping her cooped up in this dump for Arceus knows how long? Why don't I just buy her? Wouldn't do to separate her from her friend here, right?" Malcolm said, holding up his newfound 'catch.'

He couldn't see it, but the Eevee's ears perked.

Jackie put up one of his hands to 'stop' Malcolm. "Not happening. Why do you even care, anyway? The only rare thing about that one is its gender, and that's only a one in eight chance. Also, like me, you would have a hard time making a decent profit on her, even with the 'complete set.' So why bother?"

Rule Number One of having a morally-questionable occupation; don't get caught! It's a pretty cut-and-dry rule, but it pays to have the basics covered. Rule Number Two is to keep your cards close to your chest. Even the slightest crack in one's personal armor will open one up for mass exploitation. Flat out telling Jackie that he gave a shit about the Eevee's preferences would lead to problems that Malcolm would rather avoid, but he still had to explain himself somehow…

"The standard Battle Format in Orre is doubles, right? I may want to make some money on the side through battling, which would be pretty difficult with just the one…"

Jackie grew an insufferable smirk at that. "Ah, I see what you're after." He started rubbing his chin like he was on some amazing train of thought. "What's that worth to ya?"

Malcolm didn't like where this was heading. "H-how much were you looking fo-"

The Kantonian raised his hand to stop him and fished out the USB containing the prize from the Prophet raid with his other. "Just hear me out on this." He waited for his partner to interrupt him, but when Malcolm stayed quiet he continued. "Just getting this thing put us on Prophet's radar, so unless we can get our hands on proper leverage they'll come after us eventually. Leverage like, say, whatever they are keeping safe with this…" He said waving around the key code.

"Can't I just pay you?" Malcolm groaned.

"Nah, this is _way_ more interesting. Besides, you're the only one I can trust to get my back on a job like this."

"Starting to sound more and more like a suicide mission, the more I think about it."

"Then stop thinking about it so much!" Jackie yelled, putting on a scowl. He then shifted to a more neutral expression. "Besides, we don't even have a clue about where the codes are used and what they encode. It's not like we're going after them ASAP. We have time to prepare and plan. I'll hit you up when I hit a lead, you can head home with two new pets and keep a low profile until I call. And if it gets too hot, we can just call it off. Figure things out if or when we cross that bridge."

He offered his right hand to his colleague. "So… we got a deal?"

Malcolm sighed before he grasped Jackie's hand with his own, grumbling "Deal."

Jackie then sauntered back over the crate to retrieve the other Luxury Ball and made his way back to Malcolm and the brown Eevee.

* * *

Jackie processed the two occupied Luxury Balls to Malcolm's Trainer License and bid his friend a fond farewell so they could part ways and rest after such a climactic evening. Afterwards, Malcolm minimized the two Poke Balls and stored them in the cup-holders of his actual car, and changed back to his normal clothing. He left his borrowed equipment from the raid in the garage and pulled out onto the street to head home.

The ride home wasn't anything special, so Malcolm used the time in transit to think about the situation. He now was responsible for two Pokémon who had been tricked and neglected by a human he was acquainted with. There was little doubt there wouldn't be trust issues, not to mention just flat out resentment. There was also the internal debate in his head on what he would do with them exactly. Malcolm had never owned a Pokémon before; he just got his licensure when he was in Oasis on a whim, just in case an emergency came up.

According to Jackie, the two Evolution Pokémon were caught in the wild, so their battle proficiency was likely poor. They would need to be very well cared for to be brought up to a health enough condition to do anything, let alone battle. The more greedy part of his mind thought of just going around and finding a buyer for them, but… he couldn't bring himself to think too hard on that line of thought. He recalled the look on the Eevee's face when her friend was returned to the ball. That damned expression… No, he was going to do this and see it through to the end. He is many things, but let it never be said that Malcolm is a fair-weather friend.

That left him with just one course of action; he turned down another street as he made his way to the pier. With the influx of foreign Pokémon pouring into the region, people often needed to pick up some extra supplies for their new companions. Poke Marts and other Pokémon-themed stores popped up all over the place in Gateon to accommodate the growing demand. Overtime, more Pokémon were brought in from construction companies to begin building more sites for the small port to grow larger with various industries so money would always be flowing in the port. But right now, Malcolm only had to head to one small store to pick up some basic supplies for caring for small foxes.

Two Eevee were released from their balls with faces contorted into various bewildered expressions at their whereabouts. Once they determined there was nothing dangerous with their surroundings they turned to each other while each saw a mix of realization and relief mirrored at each other's face. The brown Eevee tackled silver counterpart and pinned her to the ground and joyously nuzzling into each other's cheeks. Their reverie was stirred by a voice that spoke up softly from behind them.

"Well girls, welcome home."

 **Author's Notes:** I'll try to keep this brief because I would rather the word count accurately portray the amount of effort I put into this stuff, but I digress. Thank you for reading thus far. This was mostly just an introduction to the world (or series of worlds) that hosts my stories. I'll go ahead and warn you all here now that there will indeed be content of an adult rating (lemons that will contain pokephilia, as well as several other kinky subjects) coming in the near future (starting at chapters 3 or 4, depending on how much of a roll I'm on at the time). Don't worry, I'll be sure you get a heads up in case you would rather avoid that stuff (or are only interested in that stuff) when that time comes. Until then, likes and reviews would be very much appreciated. Be sure to stay tuned for more stuff in the near future! For now though, I seem to have much to do…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 House Warming

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

"Well girls, welcome home." The human closed the door to the apartment, tossed his keys into a bowel nearby, and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted with the place while I make us something to eat."

And with that, the Eevee twins were left to themselves once again.

The brown Eevee resumed her nuzzling against her sisters cheeks, purring incessantly while the shiny fox attempted to break her sister's pin. "I am _so_ lost right now. Where are we? Who was that..? Will you please get _off of me_?!"

Giggling, the normal-colored Eevee complied. Now unrestrained, the shiny fox rolled onto her paws to stand and shake herself, causing a small amount of loose fur to fall to the hardwood floor. She could hear the new human in another room causing a ruckus with some pots and pans. The sudden noises shook up the vixen, but her brown twin seemed far more at ease.

"How are you so calm, anyway? I'm kinda freaked out right now…"

"You would probably be a bit more in the loop if you weren't so damned lazy!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, long story short; turns out our captor, not this new guy, _had_ caught us while we were asleep and weakened. He sucked you up into one of those balls, and was about to give you away. That's when _this_ guy…" pointing a paw in the direction of the kitchen "… asked if he could have me too-"

"Wait, wait, wait, have you _too_?"

Sigh… "Yeah, me too. Now shut up and listen while I explain." She replies sternly, pausing a bit for her sister to interrupt her again. When there is no response, she continues. "Now, as I was saying; the new guy asks if he could have me too, so we don't get separated. The first guy doesn't listen at first, but our new… owner …trainer…? We'll just call him our 'human' for now. Our human agreed to do 'a job…'" Making her best air quotes with one of her paws. "…with him in exchange for me. I got put in a ball a bit later, and now we're here."

"So, we traded in our shitty cage for a gilded one… Great…" The shiny Eevee sighed.

"Hey, at least it's a step up!" The brown vixen chided. "Besides, this new human doesn't seem so bad…" She said looking over her shoulder to the kitchen, smelling some odd scent originating from the room while said human works on making food.

"How can you be so sure? He barely spoke two sentences to us."

"I dunno." The normal-coated Eevee did her best to shrug. "I just get this good feeling about him. With how sought after a girl with your fur is compared to me, he could have just left me to the kennel while he did Arceus knows what with you, and we'd never be able to see each other again. Besides, we aren't in a cage yet, so maybe he's not so bad."

"He's 'not so bad,' even though he at least works with that first asshole that spiked the food he offered us?!" The silver fox shouted, indignantly. She received another half-assed shrug in response. "Sigh… fine, we can give him the benefit of the doubt, but we are taking our leave at the first opportunity. Got it?"

Another shrug was her response.

* * *

Malcolm's fridge was not well equipped for his furry guests. Berries were the primary source of nutrients for most Pokémon, but that was the problem with training them in Orre. The region had been devoid of Pokémon, and by extension, the berry plants that they help pollinate for eons. They had farms for growing the normal sort of fruits and vegetables, but those are inadequate for Pokémon consumption. They could eat them, sure, but there were… complications.

Berries are preferred to normal fruits because of their nutritional values. The nutritional difference between berries and the human fruit equivalents would be like comparing a torch to a bonfire. A Pokémon's requirements are higher because of their impressive metabolism. Being able to shoot energy beams from your mouth, fly faster than most planes, withstand ridiculous amounts of punishment, and instantaneously changing shape while evolving will have that effect. Starving a Pokémon can be one of the most harmful things you can do to them; which leads to the second problem…

When Malcom went to the Poké-Mart, he had looked at the food recommended for Eevee. As it turns out, there was a problem with the store-bought brands. The nutritional values were sufficient for _maintaining_ a normal diet, but these two were half-starved. He needed to get their digestion back on track, not maintain a balanced one. Plus, the stuff looked like something they would be served in prison! The poor things just got out of captivity, they didn't need prison food. He had been looking for an excuse to prepare actual meals for a while, and now seemed as good of an opportunity to start as he was gonna get.

Some Pokémon would eat others if their prey was lower on the food chain. They could also eat normal animal meat if they had the anatomy to handle it. That said, foxes were well known omnivores, so they could handle most things Malcolm ate. He just needed to make sure it was good enough to get them back into healthy shape and easy to make in mass quantity. There was plenty of ingredients for beef and noodle soup, that should do for tonight. He would need to go shopping tomorrow to provide variety, however.

* * *

The twins were exploring some rooms surrounding a hallway in his apartment when they heard the human's call coming from the other room.

"Girls, dinner's ready!"

The brown Eevee came running as fast as her legs could carry her, and skidded to a stop on the hardwood floor, much to the male's amusement. Her sister heeded his call at a far more modest pace. Once they reached him, the human bent down and picked the first fox up from under her arms a place her gently on the island that separated the kitchen and living space so he wouldn't knock off any fur into their meals. When he reached for the silver one however, he was met with a noticeable growl, but she otherwise permitted his touch. She marveled at the sight before her when he lifted her above the edge of the counter.

Her sister was standing on the table staring wide-eyed and drooling over a large bowl filled with a substance emitting a heavenly aroma. She maneuvered herself over to the other bowl placed close to her sister. The size of the bowl was great enough that, if emptied, she could probably sleep in if she curled up tight enough. The contents looked to be a charred, well-seasoned meat with noodles bathing in a brown fluid. Memories of the last time a human had 'kindly' offered them food flashed through her mind when she sat down in front of the bowl, and adopted a hesitant expression. But the sight and smell of the food alone was beginning to take its toll on her resistance.

The human soon sat two bowls of a yellow opaque liquid next to each of the girls' bowls and sat himself down in a chair on the opposite side of the table. He was about to dig in when he noticed the silver Eevee staring at him apprehensively. "Something wrong?" She haughtily turned her head away from the table as he addressed her.

"Don't like meat? I can make you something else… if… you… wa-" He trailed off. As he did, the sound of obnoxious slurping and sloshing was made more prevalent. Turning around to find the source of the distraction, she found her sister chowing down on the beef and noodles. She was so deep into the bowl; half of her head was submerged in the broth. Some of the contents spilled over and pooled on the table.

The shiny vixen and human stared on, wide eyed and jaws floored, while the Evolution Pokémon displayed her gluttonous appetite. When her bowl was almost emptied, she maneuvered herself so she was sitting on her butt with her front paws grasping the rim, while her hinds straddled the lower portion. She lowered herself onto her back gradually; bringing the bowl with her while she gulped down the last remnants of her first meal in days. When she swallowed the last drop of broth, she released her hold on the bowl and shamelessly splayed herself on her back, sighing dreamily.

The silver Eevee's eye twitched slightly at her sister's recklessness. _'What if he had spiked our meals like the last time!?'_ She thought. _'Ugh, nothing for it now, I suppose.'_ Sigh "Did you get your fill? Need another bowl?" She quipped, giving her sister a coy smirk.

Her sister moaned in content before responding. "Nah, I'm just fine. Thanks."

The shiny fox turned to look back at the human. He was looking back and forth between the discarded bowl and her sister's prone form with a small, pleased grin on his face; clearly happy that at least one of his guests enjoyed the meal he prepared.

She returned her gaze to the untouched bowl in front of her. The aroma was continuing to cut away at her insistence to abstain from the meal. Her sister seemed to be alright, and the male across from her didn't seem to be acting too insidiously…

Throwing caution to the wind, she slurped up a strip of beef… and immediately understood her sister's crude choice of eating habits! It was incredible! So tender… So flavorful… She maintained some decorum when she really started chowing down so she didn't make nearly as much of a scene as her sibling, but the temptation was certainly there. The concoction next to her soup had a pleasant combination of sweet and sour flavor. It wasn't as appealing as some of the berries her mother had found for her and her sister, but that didn't make it any less palatable.

It wasn't long before she polished off the rest of her meal. She stepped back from her bowl and plopped herself down next to her exhausted sister. The human also flashed her a small smile when he noticed that she had enjoyed meal as well, but she vehemently refused acknowledge his hard work in preparing their food by haughtily turning away again.

* * *

' _Someone has a hard time meeting new people…'_ Malcolm thought, watching his shiny Pokémon do her best to avoid eye contact. Frustrating as it was, he found it kinda cute, in its own way. _'Well, I guess we should get down to business…'_

Malcolm gathered up the dishes from their extremely late dinner and loaded them into the sink for later cleaning. The two foxes seemed content to laze about on the table, yipping softly at each other in syllables of their species name. He left them to themselves for the time being and hoped they would stay awake for just a bit longer.

Making his way back to his room further down the hallway in the apartment, Malcolm booted up his PC and printed out a large stack of images from the National Dex. He separated the papers into two stacks and shut his computer down afterwards.

When he returned to the Eevee, he found both of their consciousness waning. He nudged them both gently to rouse them, which worked, much to their annoyance. The poor things were probably a bit sleep deprived by this point, so he couldn't blame them for groaning, but he was hoping he could at least make up for it with what he has planned.

He took his seat from supper again and looked down to collect his thoughts about how he wanted to approach this.

"Alright, listen… I understand that you two haven't exactly had an easy life recently, and being brought into a brand new environment with new people doesn't help. But I want you to understand that I want to help you both make it better. That being said, I want to present you both with an offer. Nothing nefarious, just something to instigate some sort of symbiosis, but I want you girls to listen to the whole deal before you cast judgement."

The pair looked to each other for confirmation. They nodded at each other after a moment before staring back at him expectantly. "Vee." They barked in agreement.

"Great, thank you." He paused again to try and figure out the best way to begin. "To begin with, I know that Jackie, that guy from the warehouse, captured you in ways that the authorities would consider 'questionable' at best. That said, you deserve to be released…"

The shiny vixen's ears perked at that, but the other's seemed to flatten against her head more.

"But I want that to be a last resort for us. If you both truly despise me, domesticated life, or just humanity in general, I will let you go, no hard feelings. Bear in mind, I plan on doing everything I can to make this arrangement work for everyone's benefit. I'm not exactly a social Butterfree, so I don't get company often, and my lifestyle has gotten a bit… dull as of late. And having a pair of roommates like you two would help break up the monotony."

They didn't interrupt, but the Eevee pair turned to each other again and the silver one shrugged a bit, but didn't give any other ques before giving Malcolm their full attention again.

"Next, I want to train you both- Hey, let me finish!" Malcolm intercepted the shiny Eevee's attempt to interrupt before resuming. "Now, I want you both to grow stronger for your sake, not just my own. If, for any reason, you decide you want to be released, you risk the possibility of being re-captured by another human who is less liberal with their catches. Pokémon are highly sought after in Orre, especially shiny Pokémon like you." He said, looking at the silver vixen. "But if you're strong enough, you will be more able to defend yourselves. Additionally, this region does have a high crime rate, so it would make sense to protect ourselves by making ourselves less of an easy target.

"Of course, I won't just make demands of you without offering something in return. If you do desire to stay, I _will_ take care of you. Three square meals a day, help bathing and grooming (which we will do in the morning), and I can also bring you to Pokémon Centers for free medical care. Plus, I'm sure I can find some fun things for the three of us to do around here to cut loose and get to know each other. And that brings us to the final clause of the offer…"

The foxes both perked their ears; he had both of their attention now.

"I want to name you both." He got up and placed a series of pictures in front of both Eevee. "Which means I'll need to know a bit more about you; namely that I will want to know what you both want to look like. I've laid out a table of pictures of what you're options are. And… that about covers it. So…" Malcolm extended his hands in a manner similar to asking for a hug with a somewhat hopeful expression on his face. "…Do we have a deal?"

The silver fox was staring down at her forepaws, deep in thought, taking in everything the human was saying. She looked over to her brown counterpart for insight, but she wasn't there. Her gaze turned to their host, and found her quarry nuzzling his hand and leaning into his touch. "Looks like you're game." Malcolm said, scratching behind her long ears with a warm smile before turning back to the other vixen. "How 'bout you?"

She seemed to still be on the fence, but she did decide to make her way towards him, albeit at a modest pace. He saw her roll her eyes at where he was stroking the brown vixen. When she did reach the hand he extended to her, she opted for a more reserved pawing at his fingers to imitate a handshake. They both accept.

"Cool, I'm going to let you both have some privacy while you decide what you want to be when/if you grow up. If you need me, I'm going to rest my eyes over there on the couch. It's been a long night…" He said, sauntering over to the couch in the living room. "And if you don't want to Evolve, just don't leave a picture on the coffee table."

He threw himself at the couch and kicked off his shoes. It wasn't long before Malcolm dozed off.

* * *

A harsh streak of light woke Malcolm later in the day. When he glanced at the clock, it read that it was just past noon. _'Arceus, I hate working late jobs. My sleep schedule is gonna be fucked for a while now. Thanks a million, Jackie!'_ Malcolm thought, sarcastically.

When he made to get up, he felt some resistance originating from his stomach. Glancing down, he saw that the culprit was the brown Eevee's body still sleeping soundly against his abdomen. Memories of getting them introduced to his apartment flashed through his mind as the fog of sleep lifted in his head.

He looked around to find the silver one resting alone on the chair adjacent to the couch. _'She must really prefer being a loner, not like you at all, huh girl?'_ He thought as he ran his hand down the closer Eevee's back. She pushed herself further into him in response with a small smile adorning her lips. _'Oh, right, what did you two choose, anyway?'_

On the table laid two pictures. The first was of a lavender colored feline Pokémon with a slim, angular body, forked tail, tufts of fur hanging off the back of its jaw, and deep purple eyes, complete with a ruby adorning its forehead. The brown Eevee wants to be an Espeon.

The other picture displayed a sleek, canine body with a shiny, black coat of fur. The neon-blue rings and piercing yellow eyes told Malcolm that the silver fox wanted to evolve into an Umbreon.

Inwardly, Malcolm was quite happy with this outcome. Growing up, during the first Cipher Crisis, a trainer named Wes, with his friendship Eeveelution partners, spearheaded a campaign against the creators of the original Shadow Pokémon. Wes became something of an idol to him when he began his criminal career in the Underground. Like Malcolm, Wes also has a criminal background from his stint with Team Snagem, the local gang devoted to spiriting Pokémon away from their trainers. The ex-Snagem member became a respectable individual in Orre before leaving, despite his prior life choices, and Malcolm respected him for that. Now they will also share the same species of starters.

Malcolm began to gently shake the Eevee that was pressed against him awake. She responded by trying to push herself into him more, so he redoubled his efforts. "Hey, wake up." He whispered to her while he continued to shake her. Eventually she found her way back to the waking world and gave him a soft yip in greeting. Malcolm continued whispering to let the other fox sleep. "Wanna get cleaned up with me and run some errands?"

She nodded, and then looked pointedly at the coffee table; specifically at the pictures on top of it. "Yeah, I saw them. Don't worry; we'll get that taken care of in no time." She seemed pleased with his response and made her way off the couch to let him up and followed him to the bathroom.

* * *

The bathing itself was mostly uneventful. Malcolm bathed the fox first before he did himself once she was dry. They bonded, talking to one another. Well, one of them talked, the other had to resort to pantomiming to communicate anything that wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' response.

Malcolm discovered that the two Eevee were actually littermates. He also was pleased to see that the fur that she was losing was quickly being replaced thanks to her recent intake. While he was inspecting her coat however, he discovered what he assumed to be a mutation in her fur color. Most Eevee have a purely brown coat aside from the white fluffy collar and the white tips of their tails. This one however has more of an auburn property, where she has some red fur mixed into the brown. It was easy to miss, but more noticeable at the white part of her tail as contrast. She seemed perfectly normal otherwise, so Malcolm didn't put much more thought into it.

The Eevee learned his name, finally. She was also given a glimpse into his profession and his relationship with Jackie. He apologized for what she and her sister suffered while under his 'care,' and promised that if he knew of their plight, he would have intervened much sooner. She was quick to assure him that she, nor her sibling, bore him any ill will.

While they were on the topic of introductions, they began coming up with names for the vixens. Knowing what they were going to evolve into helped Malcolm bring up some suggestions, and because they were twins gave him the desire for them to have matching names. The few trainers that Malcolm had ever had any extensive conversations with that gave their Pokémon names sounded like they spent all of three seconds coming up with them. He wanted them to have names that showed they were both worth a damn to him.

"Sol and Luna?" No, too generic. And Sol sounds more like a guy's name.

"Ruby and Sapphire?" Too easy.

"Blanche and Noir?" If they lived in Kalos, he'd consider it, but he had no idea where they came from.

"…What about…?"

* * *

The silver Eevee had never slept on anything quite as comfortable as the chair she claimed as her spot last night. She lived most of her life sleeping on a leaf and dirt pile that made up her bed back in her and her sisters den. Then she was forced to sleep on the hard metal floor of a cage for the past couple weeks, but this one night on a cushioned chair made all that discomfort worth it.

The daylight threatened to cut her rest short, however, but she turned herself to shield her eyes from the sun. Not long after, she felt a fuzzy surface rubbing against her head that smelled like strawberries. The voice of said object told her that it was her sister.

"Wake up, lazybones~" She chimed, cheerily. Someone was especially giddy this morning…

The stubborn fox curled into herself tighter in an attempt to ward her off, but her sister had other plans. The brown fox grabbed her slumbering sister's ear to force her to listen.

"Waaaaake uuuuuuuup _, Ebony_ ~"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Phew, lemme tell ya, I had a hard time pushing this chapter out in a timely manner. That said, if this chapter seems a bit rushed in areas (mostly the bathroom scene), that's why. This last week was Curse week (if you can guess what I'm referring to, kudos), so that didn't help matters. I wanna try to stick to a weekly upload schedule, but I won't give myself an arbitrary deadline. If I give myself a time limit, I'm gonna procrastinate the shit out of it and nothing will ever get done. Besides, I feel like I can type out a better story when I can work at my own pace and give myself time to edit at my leisure.

I also wanted to just hurry up and get those bastards named and caught up with the whole shebang. Most stories that I've read on this site had their 'mons named pretty early on, and I can see why. It's a hassle trying to make sure the reader knows which fucking Eevee I'm referencing at any given point, but I want my characters to be… relatable, I guess? But I'm getting off topic.

So yeah, the next chapter will likely be the one to have my first lemon (literary lemon, I mean); it will also be likely to be the longest I've typed thus far. Thank you for reading thus far, and I hope you continue to do so. But now I must focus on my next chapter, which means I have work to do…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Actions

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

 **Caution** : This chapter features sex scenes and rape between a human and Pokémon as well as a Pokémon with another Pokémon. I have these sections labeled in case it is something you would rather avoid and/or makes you uncomfortable. **You have been warned!**

* * *

"Waaaaake uuuuuuuup _, Ebony_ ~" The brown Eevee chimed directly into her sister's ears.

"Uuuuuhhhhh- Whaaaaat?" The shiny fox, now named Ebony, groaned as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes and clear the fog in her head. Once the dreariness began to lift, her brain began connecting some dots. "'Ebony,' what, who-?"

"Remember what I told you about waking up with everyone else? 'Cause that happened again." The vixen mocked, a small smirk on her muzzle. "Here's the rundown, me and Malcolm, that's our human's name by the way, woke up about an hour ago and got cleaned up. We started talking; you and I getting our names came up. He tossed some possibilities back and forth and he felt like he had a good combination. Yours is 'Ebony,' if you choose to accept it."

"Ok… what's yours then?"

"Mine-" The brown-furred fox struck a pose while sitting on her haunches. She puffed her chest out proudly while raising one of her paws up over her heart. "-is Ivory!"

Ebony cocked her head to the side in confusion. "And what do they mean..?"

Ivory dropped her pose with a sigh, her sister ruining the gravitas of her introduction. "Ugh, Ivory-" she said, pointing at herself "-is a white material that is harvested from hunting and poaching tusks, like from hunting and poaching a Walrein or Mamoswine.

"And Ebony-" pointing at her sister "-is some kind of tree with black wood. Humans cut them down and make carvings and stuff from the insides of the tree."

This didn't do much to answer the silver Eevee's question. "And how do they relate to us? I mean, yeah my becoming an Umbreon will give me black fur, but doesn't your choice have pink fur?"

"Lavender fur…" Ivory corrected "and it's way lighter in color than your fur in comparison. As for why, he said that he got me for doing something illegal, like how you get ivory from tusks you poach."

"And Ebony..?"

"Probably because you laze about like a bump on a log…" Ivory snickered, tuning her head away to avoid her sister's ire while she giggled at her own joke.

"Hey! I heard that brown-noser!" Ebony snarled.

Her sister returned her gaze to her. "So, what do you think?" Ebony tilted her head again, so Ivory continued. "About the names, do you like them? Personally, I think they sound catchy."

The shiny vixen turned away and tossed the names back and forth in her head. Eventually she looked back to her littermate. "Eh, sure, beggars can't be choosers. It's gonna be confusing as the Distortion World to everyone else until we evolve. They'll assume that I'm 'Ivory' until we evolve and our fur shades switch."

Ivory turned away to hop off the chair and began running to Malcolm, yelling to her sister as she left. "Cool!Gladyoulikeit.I'mgoingtotellMalcolmyou' !Bye!" And with that, Ebony was left alone in the living room with only her thoughts for company.

…

…

' _Did she just say bath?'_

* * *

In his bedroom, Malcolm was getting dressed in more casual attire for the ordeal he was about to undertake. He didn't want to get his nicer clothes to get wet and riddled with loose silver fur, so he settled for sweat pants and a T-shirt. His goal was to get a newly named (hopefully) Eevee cleaned up since he was done with his and Ivory's baths.

The sound of claws clattering against the floor alerted him to the approach of one of his new companions. Looking through the threshold, he saw the brown fox scampering towards him with a pleased smile adorning her face. "I take it she liked the name?" He asked, to which she rapidly nodded her head. "Alright, that just leaves the hard part." Malcolm made his way to pass her as he left the room and told her to relax while he went to work on her sister.

He made his way to the silver Eevee while she seemed like she was torn between avoiding him and going back to sleep. Malcolm made the choice for her as he picked her up again, much to her chagrin. "Come on, Ebony. Let's get that stank cleaned off you. You smell like a zoo exhibit in summer."

Ebony grumbled at him at first, but lifted her paw to smell under her arm, regardless. Apparently the stink was great enough to cause her recoil in disgust. She still made a pouting face, but she wasn't as vocal about her displeasure at Malcolm's touch.

Malcolm had already prepared the bath for her before he went to get her, so he just plopped her down in the warm water and go to retrieve the special shampoo he got from the Poké Mart for most fur-covered Pokémon. When he returned to the fox, he took note of her body language while he lathered up his hands with the shampoo.

Her back was too him, and she had her tail wrapped around her form as tight as she could. She was even shaking a little, but the steam coming from the warm water of the bath lead him to believe it wasn't because she was cold.

She was afraid.

Malcolm calmly knelt down so he was closer to eye level with the shaking vixen. "Hey,-" he said softly "-it's ok. I know you're still probably wary of humans, but I won't do anything unbecoming with you. All I want is to get you cleaned up, there's nothing to be afraid of…"

Ebony slowly turned her head to face him. Her face was twisted in fear at first, but when she made eye contact with him, and saw the honesty in his gentle gaze…

She morphed her face into a scowl again and heatedly turned away again to face the wall. A small yip escaped her lips in a way that even Malcolm could interpret it as a 'hmph,' despite the language barrier.

A sigh permeated the resulting silence. If not for the fact that Malcolm's hands were covered in Pokémon shampoo, he would be pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. _'Well, I guess I'd rather she be annoyed with me than afraid of me…'_ Malcolm thought.

Malcolm got to work on cleaning the fox, starting from the back and working his way down. Ebony was doing everything in her power to avoid any of his attempts at conversation, and gave no indications of enjoying the bath whatsoever. When he cleaned Ivory, she was sighing and mewling practically the entire time because of his ministrations, if only because her coat would finally be free of the grime accumulated from her captivity. After a while, she yipped at him to presumably talk with him. He knew she knew he couldn't understand her, but he still gave her his attention while he groomed her fur.

The closest thing to conversation Ebony gave was a warning growl when his hand became too close to spots she didn't want his hands anywhere near. Namely her face, paws, tail and underbelly were off limits to him. "Look, Ebony…" Malcolm said to get her attention. She didn't so much as turn and face him, but he continued anyway. "You have to let me clean you. You'll smell _far_ nicer when I finish…" He pleaded to let her allow him to finish bathing her, but her only response was a slightly louder growl.

Sigh. "If you're going to be this difficult the whole time you're here, you choose the wrong evolution…"

That got her attention. Her head snapped back to him with an accusatory glare on her face and lips curled in a snarl.

"Oh calm down. I'm not blackmailing you. Do you know how you evolve into an Umbreon?" She begrudgingly shook her head 'no,' so he explained. "The Elemental Trio, Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon, evolve be giving them the appropriate stone. They are arguably the easiest Eeveelutions to become. The Nature duo; Leafeon and Glaceon, by spending some time training in dense forests and frozen caverns respectively. A Sylveon needs loving emotions and decent training in at least one Fairy-type attack." Ebony gagged a little at that one, but Malcolm wasn't sure if it was from the thought of giving him those emotions or just the explanation in general. "Espeon and Umbreon are known as the Friendship Eeveelutions because they both require a strong, mutual bond of trust and camaraderie and to train during the day or night. I'm sure you can figure out which is which.

"You live with me now, so I'm your best way of getting to evolve anytime soon. I'm not saying that you need to give me all your trust immediately. All I want is the benefit of the doubt for now. Give me a chance to prove that I mean you and Ivory no harm." He offered his lathered hand to her again. "Deal?"

She took a moment to consider the idea, but eventually agreed to give him the benefit of the doubt. With a heavy sigh, she put her paw in his hand in agreement. Malcolm responded by immediately cleaning the paw she gave him before releasing it. She retained her stoic nature during the remainder of the bath, but she also no longer growled as the human hands roamed her body and face.

* * *

With both foxes and himself cleaned, Malcolm made a quick lunch consisting of grilled cheese and more lemonade. Fortunately for the twins' dietary needs, he prefers the brands of dairy products that use MooMoo Milk instead of milk from normal cows. Said milk is famous for being _loaded_ with vital nutrients.

Ivory was more tame when she ate this time around, but she still ate circles around both of her cohabitants. Ebony wasn't as hesitant to start eating, but she still refused to make eye contact with her human caretaker the entire time. _'Eh, it's progress I guess.'_ Malcolm thought.

Once everyone had their fill, Malcolm announced his intention to go shopping soon for more food and asked if either of them wanted to join him. Ivory was quick to his side, eager to see the sights. When he asked her sister, however, he found her collapsing on the couch to sleep again. So she was out.

He got dressed in more appropriate clothes for a public appearance, grabbed Ivory's Luxury Ball from the nightstand he kept them on, as well as his insulated bags so their purchases stayed cold longer, and departed with the brown fox in tow.

* * *

They both opted to walk to the store Malcolm prefers to shop at since it was only a few city blocks away.

In transit, Ivory had a tendency to get too distracted taking in the sights to, ironically, see where she was going. She occasionally bonked her head on walls and peoples legs, so Malcolm picked her up and perched her on his shoulder so she could focus on the view. He made a mental note to work on her multitasking skills later down the line.

It wasn't much longer until they reached the store. Malcolm read off a list of things they would need, including various meat and dairy products, spices, berries, a collar, and cat litter. When Ivory trilled a question about the litter, he explained it was so she and her sister would have a more convenient place to use the bathroom. She responded by leading him to the nearby bathrooms and insisted he waited outside a stall for a bit. His patience was rewarded by the eventual sound of a stream hitting another body of water, followed by a flush. Ivory stepped out after and smirked at her human caretaker's deadpanned expression.

The collar was nothing special in terms of appearance, but its function was what was important. Specifically, it was an Everstone collar, Everstone being a common rock with a unique property of inhibiting evolutions, despite power and environmental prerequisites being met. The plan was to set an alarm for 6:00 in the morning and evening and rotating who wore the collar so each sister would only be able to evolve at the appropriate time of day, thus minimizing the risks of them accidently evolving into another of their species' branches. Malcolm explained it as such to Ivory so she could tell Ebony when they got home so shiny fox wouldn't gauge his eyes out when he tried to put it on her in the mornings.

When the shopping concluded, Malcolm had, admittedly, picked up more than he should have for a commute across the city on foot. Ivory offered to help him lighten the load by carrying a bag or too, so he gave her the bag containing the berries he purchased to carry in her mouth.

They had just stepped outside of the store when something _literally_ fell from the sky right next to them.

* * *

When the shock wore off, Malcolm investigated the object that fell from the sky. The first thing he noticed was that it was actually a _creature_ , not an object. It had an avian body with a metallic coating. It also had wings that looked like blades that spasmed occasionally and a tail that looked like the tip of some sort of exotic glaive. The Skarmory's sharp beak was wedged into the concrete from its impact. He also noted the probable cause of the Armor Bird's crash; arcs of electricity snapping across its body, indicating a paralysis condition.

Malcolm put down the load of groceries he was carrying and relieved Ivory of hers as well. He dug through the berry bag until he found the one he was looking for. Once he was done looking through the bag, he also removed his jacket and used it to create a buffer between himself and the Skarmory's sharp, shaking appendages while he began to pull its beak free from the sidewalk. Ivory also helped by pulling its head into a hug to push up with her hind legs.

After a couple of good pulls, they eventually got the bird free. The Skarmory began to shake its head to rid itself of the debris in its armor while Malcolm donned his jacket again, though it did have a few slashes carved into the back. He then offered the berry he collected from the bag to the Flying-type; a Cheri berry, to clear the paralysis.

The Armor Bird quickly took the berry and shook the paralysis out of its wings before it gave an appreciative chirp to Malcolm and nudged Ivory playfully in thanks. The duo wished it the best and it flew away into the distance again.

Ivory barked to get Malcolm's attention and pointed in the direction the Skarmory, asking where he thought it was going.

"It probably came from the Battle Park a few blocks that way. The Park is a reservation in the city that has an area of a few city blocks wide on both sides and it's dedicated to hosting improvised battles. People that live or work here that train and raise Pokémon like to spend time there for either recreational use or personal training."

Ivory began to wag her tail faster and her eyes gained a sparkle of excitement. She began trilling that she wanted to go check it out; despite to large load of groceries he was carrying. Malcolm wasn't too keen to go out of his way to go there while he was as encumbered as he was, but this was the first thing she seemed genuinely excited about aside from food and he didn't want to disappoint her. Eventually, he caved, and he and his Evolution Pokémon began making their way to the Park.

* * *

Since the Park was a center piece for Gateon Port, Malcolm had passed it by from time to time in his commutes when he was doing odd jobs around the city. The Park hosted impromptu battles and trainers of all walks of life would turn up. Some people were there to test their team's mettle, some to start or settle rivalries, and others were just there to have fun and get some exercise.

He always loved seeing what people had kept in their rosters. Some days, there would be a man who he would label as a 'punk' doting over a Skitty with a small scratch on its paw, and occasionally there would be a little girl, no more than seven or eight years old, commanding a behemoth of an Arcanine in battle. That was his favorite part of the Battle Park; people would show some of their true colors in what Pokémon they cared for and how they cared for them.

Ivory was giddy with excitement watching so many Pokémon duking it out at the same time. In the wild, she seldom even met new ones with her sister, and most of those times they were either hostile or indifferent. But the Pokémon present here were different. They wore fierce and determined expressions, but there was no malice, no fighting for the sake of survival, just flaunting their combat prowess and teamwork against one another. She sprinted off to get a closer look, with an over encumbered human trudging behind her.

After a bit of wandering, Malcolm found a park bench so he could rest his grip from the plethora of grocery bags he was carrying and allowing Ivory to get a glimpse of the action for a while. "We can rest here for a bit, but I wanna make sure we get home before sunset, so we can't stay for too long. Ok?" The vixen nodded appreciatively, and resumed her spectating of nearby battles.

Roughly twenty minutes later, a hand roughly latched onto Malcolm's shoulder. "Hiya!" A cheery, yet unfamiliar, feminine voice greeted him from behind. With a start, he shot out of his seat while he turned around to get a look at the 'assailant' in question.

She was a pale-skinned teenage girl with strawberry-red hair that she kept tied up behind her head in a single, spiky pigtail, and deep blue eyes that had a shadowy undertone. At a guess, she was about 12 or 13 years old. Her outfit consisted of a dark blue denim jacket with a purple undershirt, a blue knee-length skirt and dark purple boots. A small, black satchel seemed to be her means of carrying her trainer equipment, as evident by the row of magnetic holsters designed for Pokeball storage, with a single one occupied. She also wore a choker with an ornament resembling a crescent moon hanging from the front. Her hand was awkwardly suspended in the air from when he bolted from his seat and a dumbfounded expression on her face; a look that Ivory mirrored at Malcolm's reaction.

Trying to downplay the fact that he both allowed a teenager to sneak up on him, as well as react as though her greeting was a death threat, Malcolm readjusted his defensive stance and coughed into his hand twice nonchalantly before responding. "Erm, hello?"

The girl slowly dropped her hand onto her hip. "…Right…" She mimicked his coughing before restarting the conversation. "How's it going? Name's Scarlett, I saw you and your Eevee sitting here all by your lonesomes and I figured there couldn't be any harm in meeting new people." As she introduced herself, she offered her hand for a handshake, which Malcolm accepted; grateful she was willing to move past their rough start.

"Pleasure to meet you, Scarlett. My name's Malcolm, and this-" he gestured his hand in the Eevee's direction. "-is Ivory."

"Awwww." Scarlett cooed as she lifted the Evolution Pokémon from under her arms and held her out at arms-length. "She's a cutie! How long have you had her?"

Malcolm looked at the watch on his wrist to evaluate the time. He didn't want to allude to the fact that he got custody of her at about 1:00 in the morning this day, so he opted for subtlety instead of rousing suspicions. "Earlier this morning."

"Seriously?!" The teen exclaimed as she set Ivory back down on the bench. "You must _really_ treat her well then. She seems so relaxed around you… How'd you come by her anyway? Eevee are notoriously hard to come by."

Shrugging, Malcolm replied. "I got her and her sister as a gift from a friend of mine."

The surprise on Scarlett's face returned. "Must be one hell of a friend… Wait! Did you just say 'her and her _sister_ '?" She gestured toward the vixen with zeal for clarification. "Her mother had two female Eevee in the same litter?" He nodded "Arceus, I don't even wanna think about the chances of that happening…"

Malcolm and Ivory exchanged a knowing look. ' _You don't even know the half of it._ ' They thought. He hadn't even mentioned that the other Eevee was, in fact, a shiny Pokémon.

"Where is her sister, anyway? I only see the one…" The teen was scanning their surroundings, likely looking for another Eevee or Eeveelution.

"Ebony's back home, sleeping… again. We needed to go shopping for groceries, but she apparently has a lazy streak. I think I've seen her with her eyes open for a total of two hours today." Ivory was struggling to contain her giggling at that last comment. "Since they were new to Gateon, I figured we could walk to the store and here to get Ivory here acquainted with the neighborhood in lieu of just driving around. Turns out I may have underestimated my shopping list though. I may have ended up biting off more than I can chew. Heh heh…" He sheepishly scratched the back of his head while he chastised himself, looking at the mass of purchases he just made.

That last bit seemed to grab Scarlett's attention as her head snapped back to him before looking down at her purse. She seemed to be lost in thought for a bit before she met Malcolm's gaze yet again with a look of resolution.

"Hey, how 'bout a friendly wager? You mentioned that you had a car, right?" Malcolm nodded. "I want to visit a place called Phenac City in a couple of days, but the only way to get there is to cross a small desert. It's a dangerous walk, especially with just one Pokémon, but driving there turns it into a _way_ easier trip."

Malcolm could see where this was going. She didn't have a means of transportation that could safely traverse the sand dunes between cities, so she had to get creative. ' _But why make a wager and not just ask for help?_ '

"A 1v1 battle between your 'Ivory' and my partner." Scarlett continued "If I win, I want you to give me a lift to Phenac!" As she went on about the details of the battle, she grew increasingly excited, and the kind expression she normally wore graduated into a seemingly arrogant smirk as she talked. "And because I already know who you're gonna be fighting with, I figure I should offer you the same courtesy!" She quickly unlatched the one capture device on her satchel and activated it before tossing into the air.

The ball snapped open and the enclosed bright light shot down to the ground next to its trainer as she caught the ball once again. The light gradually began to fade, revealing the form of a tiny mouse-like creature with black and yellow fur, black, beady eyes, and rosy cheeks. The Pichu immediately took on a similar stance to his trainer, even taking on the same fire in his eyes as she did.

"Malcolm and Ivory, meet Snaps! Snaps, this is Malcolm and Ivory." She pointed to the human and fox respectively. "They're the ones who are gonna give us a lift to Phenac when we beat them in a battle!" Scarlett raised a fist to the air as she made her bold statement, a movement that 'Snaps' copied with an equal amount of zeal.

…

"…What if _we_ win?"

Scarlett and Snaps' energy deflated instantly. The fists the duo raised to the sky fell down to their sides and hung limply. She apparently hadn't thought that far ahead. The overeager teen put her hand to her chin in thought as she looked around frantically for an adequate means of compensation. Eventually, her gaze settled on Malcolm's impressive grocery pile. "How about me and Snaps help you get your stuff home?" She asked sheepishly. The Pichu didn't seem that excited about being dragged into the wager now, if his collapse to the ground was any indication, but he otherwise didn't complain.

Malcolm looked to Ivory. "What do you think? I don't mind a scenic drive every now and then if we lose, and we could certainly use the help to get home at a decent time if we win. But you will be the one battling, so I leave the final say to you."

It didn't take long for her to come to a decision. She responded by hopping down from the bench and made her way to the waiting Tiny Mouse Pokémon. Ivory got right in the Pichu's face, donning a determined glower. She was eager to give herself a rival of her own, a sentiment that 'Snaps' shared wholeheartedly.

"Well… looks like we have a wager." Malcolm jerked his head to the side, indicating that they should move their match away from the walkway that the bench rested at to avoid accidently injuring passers-by (or his groceries). He wasn't worried about someone stealing his groceries in the park so he left them by the bench. Yelling the word 'thief' would lead to a mob of law-upholding citizens and good-natured Pokémon stopping the larcenist dead in their tracks.

As they made their way to the side, Malcolm took out his PDA to assess what Ivory's move set consisted of, something he should have done far sooner than now. Hindsight is a bitch. Regardless, Ivory could use Quick Attack, Swift, Sand Attack, and Bite. It wasn't anything to wright home about, but it would get the job done.

Scarlett and Snaps stood some distance away from their opponents, both parties facing each other, waiting for the go. The teen took out a white handkerchief and held it up so everyone would be able to see it. "When this hits the ground, we start, alright?!" She called.

"Sounds good." Malcolm replied and Ivory nodded her understanding as well. Without another word, Scarlett threw the cloth into the air. It was about 6ft in the air.

5ft. Ivory removed her gaze from their make-shift timer and onto Snaps, trusting that her trainer would indicate when to start verbally.

4ft. Malcolm kept his eyes squarely on the tissue as it fell, trying to come up with a response for his opponent's first move as he did.

3ft. _'Electric Types specialize in range, right? Should I have Ivory respond with Swift, or just try to dodge.'_

2ft. _'Scarlett's eccentric, but I don't know what kind of experience she has. Does she have a response if an enemy gets too close?'_

1ft. _'Best to keep her on her toes.'_

0ft. "Go!" Both trainers shouted in unison.

* * *

To say that Ivory was nervous would be an understatement. Her sister was the battler, she just wasn't confident enough to go paw-to-paw with other Pokémon, but Ebony had a knack for it. But she put her self-doubt to the side for now when she heard the "Go!"

She would put her trust in her trainer to look out for her.

"Thunder Shock!" She saw Snaps' cheeks spark with energy before he loosed a small bolt from his body, directed at her.

"Ivory, use Swift!" Malcolm's command was calm, but the urgency was clear. She quickly stored energy into her tail. The fur bristled from the stars she was creating in the confines of her fur. Jumping in the air, she twisted her body around to fling the Swift attack from her tail into the general direction of the Pichu. She had used the move before; she knew it didn't need to be a precise throw to get results.

When the attacks collided, the bolt of electricity burst through a couple of the Swift stars, but both attacks still hit their intended targets. When the shock hit Ivory, she felt some of her muscles lock and spasm painfully, but it faded away not long after. A glance at Snaps would reveal that he faired about the same; clearly damaged, but he was still standing tall. Of course, Scarlett wasn't going to wait around while her foes regrouped…

"Thunder Wave!" Snaps, once again began discharging voltage. Instead of a concentrated shock, however, he released it into a pulse-like blast at the Eevee.

' _If that connects, she'll become paralyzed. Swift likely won't be enough to negate the pulse… But if we ground the current…'_ "Ivy, Sand Attack, right at 'em."

The Evolution Pokémon swiftly turned around to face her trainer so she could use her front paws to fling dirt between her hinds and directly at the Pichu and his Thunder Wave he was launching.

Not only did the flung dirt manage to completely negate the paralysis wave, but it even overpowered it and hit the mouse right in the face, getting debris in his eyes and making an effective counterattack difficult.

Malcolm decided to use the opening to close the distance between them and their opponents. "Quick Attack, keep up the pressure!" Ivory shot at her rival at a speed the human eye can't perceive. When she reached him, however, she noticed that the Pichu was already amassing energy. It wasn't from his cheeks this time. This time it was from his mouth.

"Sweet Kiss, Snaps~!" Scarlett sang.

' _Shit…'_ was the only immediate response Malcolm could come up with. _'I should've known they would have a close ranged contingency. We have to worry about getting paralyzed and confused with these two? Heh, not too shabby.'_ "Ivory, go into Swift! Quick!"

Snaps was already puckered up and moving in to 'seal the deal,' eyes closed in anticipation. He was quite pleased with himself when he felt his lips softly collide with fur. He was becoming less pleased when he felt his face be absorbed by said fur. When he opened his eyes to figure out what happed, he couldn't see anything. That problem was solved when he began to see stars forming right in front of his eyes.

Ivory turned to see that the Pichu had his head buried in her fur. The sight gave her an uncharacteristically wicked idea. Following Malcolm's command, she focused her energy for the Swift attack in her tail once more. However, instead of flinging the projectiles, she shook her tail back and forth as fast as she could with the mouse's head still lodged in her tail, constantly pouring out more and more her strength into a continuous Swift; turning her tail into a make-shift rattle.

With his ears either too buried in fur to hear or his hearing being jarred by the constant bombardment of stars across his head from every side, Snaps couldn't Scarlett's pleas for any form of counterattack he could muster. After roughly 20 seconds of nonstop pummeling, Ivory gradually stopped her attack and lifted her tail away from the Electric-type's head to resume the battle.

When the veil was lifted, Snaps' head was completely covered in bruises and scratches compared to the rest of his body. He wobbled in place for a bit before he finally fell backward, swirling eyes indicating that he fainted.

Ivory was frozen on the spot, mesmerized by the sight of her first defeated adversary. Prior to today, she was always the support of her and her sister's team. Light damage and throwing sand at their enemies was her responsibility while her sister did the heavy lifting. Not that Ebony didn't want her to be more involved in fights, but she just couldn't muster the courage to take initiative in battle.

This was different. Yes, her opponent was a small rodent that was about as experienced as she was, but _she_ beat him. _Her_ and no one else. Well… no one except for…

Malcolm knelt down to take his Pokémon into his arms. When she zoned back in, she immediately began a thorough nuzzling of every part of his chin she could reach. He reciprocated the affection by rubbing her cheek while he scratched behind her ear in juuuuuuuust the right place.

"Awww man... And you were the only one in the entire park that just had one Pokémon." Scarlett was scooping up her partner off the ground so she could tend to his injuries. When he was back on his feet, they turned to address their victors. "Sigh. Well, a bet's a bet…"

* * *

After about 30 minutes of walking and talking…

"So what did you need to do in Phenac that was so important, anyway?" Scarlett and Snaps upheld their end of the deal. Malcolm now had a little less than half of his groceries being transported by the teen and her partner. The two humans had been conversing with one another while their two Pokémon followed.

"Pops talked about a Pre-Gym in that city. Supposedly, it's a good place to learn how to take on Gym Challenges, without the official recognition of an actual Gym by the League. I always wanted to take on the League back home, but my mom wanted me to visit this region first, so I figured 'why not KO two Pidgey with one stone.'"

A few minutes later, the group finally arrived back to Malcolm's apartment building. "Alright, this is us. Here, I'll take those. I can hoof it to the elevator from here on out."

Scarlett whistled up at the building. "Swanky. It's certainly a step up from where we're staying." She turned to face him one last time. "Well, it was nice meeting the both of you. Hope we get to bump into each other again. Catch ya later!" The teen recalled the Pichu back to his Ball before turning around, presumably to head off to her own apartment.

Malcolm lifted an eyebrow as she began to depart. "Didn't you still want that lift to Phenac?"

Scarlett turned around again, puzzled. "Yeah… but we lost, so you don't have to-"

Malcolm shook his head to interrupt her since his hands were full. "Like I said, I don't mind road trips. Hell, we could probably use a visit at the Pre-Gym just as much as you." He gestured to Ivory with a tilt of his head. "Besides, I probably would have agreed to drive you there if you just asked instead of put it up to a bet. I don't get out as much as I probably should…" That last bit got him to blush a little from embarrassment.

"W-well… Yeah… Uh, Thanks! Yeah, we'll come by in a couple of days, say about noon-?" She trailed off. When he nodded, her face brightened tremendously. "Alright! Awesome, thanks Malc! I owe you one! See you in two days!" She called out to him as she turned and ran home with significantly more pep in her step.

Malcolm made a mental note of his new appointment with the girl. _'If nothing else, she will at least be better company for traveling than Jackie. Narcissistic prick…'_ He cursed in his mind.

* * *

Ivory followed her trainer into the elevator to ascend to their apartment. She watched as he pressed the button to the appropriate floor, and the automated silver doors closed before they were lurched against the abrupt start of the lift.

The fox looked at herself in the reflective surface, reflecting on the day she has had since she got up nearly a day ago. She was saved from separation with her sister by another human, fed some _damn_ good food, cleaned, groomed, allowed to choose what she would want to evolve into, shown a bit of life in the city, taken into battle, and even made some new friends/rivals.

All in all, she actually felt cared for, like her happiness mattered to someone else. It was a new sensation for her. Mom cared for her, sure, but that was a natural relationship; as natural as the rise and fall of the sun. The same could be said of her sister. Ebony loved her to no end and she knew it, but there was always a tinge of overprotectiveness. She was the older sister after all, so Ivory couldn't judge her for it, but that doesn't mean she was without some resentment. And she wasn't even gonna consider her time in the first human's, 'Jackie's,' care.

But Malcolm was a different story.

He saved her. Not because he was seeking to gain anything from it. Not because it was convenient for him. He wasn't even asked to do it. Because he cared, that's why he saved her. They may have only known each other for less than a day, but meeting him almost made her and her sister's captivity worth it. Almost-

"Hey Ivory," She was pulled from her thoughts and turned to look at her trainer. Like her, Malcolm was also just staring at the door. "You did very well today." He turned to look her in the eye, his blue meeting her brown. "I'm proud of you." He said as he gave her a warm smile.

The cabin stopped abruptly, jostling them from their moment. The silver doors opened again with a low, mechanical hiss. Malcolm wordlessly stepped off the lift and made his way to the door to their apartment while Ivory lagged behind and stared after him.

'I'm proud of you.' It was a simple compliment, but it meant the world to her. She had never heard it before. Malcolm stepped through the door and left it open for her to come through at her own pace. Ivory couldn't stop her tail from wagging. Her heart throbbed from the sense of mutual trust she had with him. The worked so well together…

She felt so light all of the sudden, and the world around her seemed to get smaller too.

It's weird though… The bag full of berries she was carrying seemed to get smaller as well. And lighter…

Oh well. It's probably nothing…

* * *

Malcolm was sorting out the groceries as he heard the door close. Assuming it was just Ivory entering, he continued with refrigerating and freezing the appropriate foods. With how tired his arms were after carrying all of the food, he was rather grateful to the brown fox for showing him that they were actually able to use a toilet. Carrying heavy-ass cat litter on top of everything else would likely have thrown his back out.

' _How did they learn to do that, though? Jackie said they were wild when he got them, and I know he just left them to do their 'business' in the corner of their cage when he held them… Eh, I'm probably just overthinking it.'_ He thought as he worked.

He heard the sound of claws clicking against the hard floor followed by a full bag being gently set on the ground. "Thanks, Ivory." He said as he heard the claws clacking away from him.

"Espeon!" was the reply he got.

Malcolm bent down to collect the new bag and placed the berries in a bowl for later, and… her voice sounded different. It was deeper, but still familiar…

' _And did she just say..?'_

His head snapped in the direction Ivory's voice. He saw the shape of a lilac cat with a forked tail gracefully making her way to the living room. "Ivory?" He called to her. She slowly made to turn around to face him. Malcolm made his way to her and knelt down to get to eye level. "Uh… Can I see your paw real quick?" He said as he offered a hand to her.

The newly-evolved Sun Pokémon tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow at him, but complied regardless. When she looked down to join him in inspecting her paw, her other brow joined the one that was already up in surprise.

* * *

Ivory was stunned into silence. In her trainers hand rested a dainty, lavender paw. Her paw. She brought said paw up to her face to confirm what she already knew.

Wider ears, whiskers on the sides, and a smooth surface on her forehead... yup, that was new. The Espeon sprinted into the bathroom; the only room she knew that had a mirror. She jumped onto the counter-sink in a single bound to look at her new body.

Her eyes were a near-uniform royal purple and gleaming with refinement. Her eyelashes curved out from her brow, giving her a more feminine appearance than the picture she was shown by Malcolm last night. The whiskers on the sides of her face were smaller though. Oddly enough, her fangs and claws were slightly longer, and thinner than when she was an Eevee, but she didn't put much more thought into it. She found her face to be well framed and her gaze held a mystifying charm. All in all, she didn't look too shabby, but she still had the rest of her new body to inspect.

She struck various poses to get a feel for her new appearance and muscle structure. Her body lost a lot of the fur from her previous form so she was far more flexible and aerodynamic as a result, but the loss of bulk means she was far more prone to taking direct bodily damage. Otherwise, she had an elegant, lithe frame. Her smooth fur and slender form gave her a graceful appeal and her rump a firm yet alluringly-

…

Huh, that was new.

She never tried to gauge her sex-appeal before. As an Eevee, she was far more worried about just surviving and enjoying spending time with her sister. The opinion of the opposite sex just wasn't a concern of hers before now.

Oh well, it was probably just hormones.

Her final consensus though; she looked pretty damn good.

Evolving did leave a bittersweet taste in her mouth, though. As an Eevee, her options were always open. She could dream of being whatever Eeveelution she wanted, but now… She was locked in. There was no going back now. No matter what, she will be an Espeon until she draws her final breath, but… It also gave this sense of comfort, of finality.

Being an Espeon _is_ what she wanted after all. When Malcolm showed them their options, she was captivated by the same enigmatic grace that she now possessed. And the fact that she had evolved into one in less than a day with her partner was a huge boost for her self-esteem as well.

After ogling at herself in the mirror a bit longer, she decided it was time to return to her roommates.

* * *

Malcolm watched as Ivory stormed off towards the bathroom all of the sudden. When she passed the threshold, he turned his attention to the clock while he got back to work on the groceries once again.

5:56 P.M. was the time on the displays of his kitchen appliances. _'Damn, she cut that close. A few more minutes and she'd be stuck as an Umbreon for the rest of her life. I should have been more aware of the time.'_

A captured Pokémon can have their evolution delayed when the button on their Poké Ball is held down for a few seconds. That's the main reason he took the thing with him when they left to go shopping in the first place. In retrospect, he should probably teach that to Ebony as well when he brings up the collar.

' _Still, I know we've been bonding pretty well lately, but evolving in less than 24 hours was a surprise. Luxury Balls are famous for establishing good relations between trainer and Pokémon, but this is unreal. I haven't known them nearly long enough for the effect to be that apparent. I wonder what caused it then…'_

A short time later, Ivory came back to the living room as Malcolm finished putting the food away and ordering pizza to celebrate her Evolution. Ebony, who had been in a deep sleep on the chair until recently, was surprised to see an Espeon nudging her awake instead of a brown Eevee. A round of yipping and meowing at each other led Malcolm to believe that they were likely discussing the same things he was thinking to himself not long ago.

The trio relaxed for the rest of the evening, binging on fresh pizza and movies that came up on Pay-per-View. Malcolm, with Ivory's diplomatic assistance, was able to convince Ebony to wear the Everstone collar during daylight hours, and promptly set an alarm for 6 in the morning to make sure she didn't evolve into the wrong Eeveelution like her sister came close to doing.

When it was time to retire for the evening, Malcolm withdrew to his room. Ebony had insisted on staying on the couch, basking in the warmth that he and Ivory left behind, while the Espeon insisted that she sleep against him like that morning. Figuring that she could eventually just psychically shove him over anyway, he complied. Besides, she evolved for him in a record-setting time, he felt obliged to live up to her expectations. She once again laid her back against his torso and he wrapped his arm around her chest and pulled her closer to his body, much to her purring pleasure.

* * *

The next two days passed fairly quickly. The most notable thing that happened was that Malcolm and Ebony had finally found a common ground; a love for coffee. With how lethargic the shiny fox was he was surprised by her fascination with his choice morning beverage. When he offered a cup to Ivory, she rushed to her water bowl to cleanse her palate, but Ebony was quick to down her leftover brew. Malcolm wasn't too surprised to see that the Evolution Pokémon's mood and energy levels improved dramatically upon consumption. He knew a few people that were the same way.

What _was_ surprising was that Ivory seemed to grow emotionally distant and irritable as the days flew by. She still insisted on being near her trainer at every available opportunity, though. Sleeping next to him… Lounging on the couch with him… When he went about his morning rituals, she watched. When he bathed, she was there, but she nervously avoided looking directly at him. When she was an Eevee, she was perfectly fine with him being nude in front of her, but now she stiffly kept her back to him when he entered and left the shower.

Holding a conversation with her was difficult for Ebony and damn near impossible for Malcolm. Her responses were often short and crass, and she gained an uncharacteristically short-fuse for her temper.

Malcolm and Ebony collectively just assumed it was her just adapting to her new body and opted to give her space when she was in a mood.

* * *

On the day of their imminent departure to Phenac, Malcolm made sure the girls were fed, bathed and groomed for the trip. He wasn't superficial enough to care what a bunch of stranger thought about how well he cared for his Pokémon, but Ivory was very insistent that he make her presentable. He also ensured that Ebony kept her collar on. They had actually managed to start growing a functional bond and he didn't want her to have a premature evolution.

They were getting set up in his car when he received a notification on his phone from reception that he had a visitor. He responded by telling them to direct her to the attached parking garage next door while he made sure Ebony and Ivory were comfortable in the back seats.

Scarlett showed up a few minutes later and got into the passenger seat at Malcolm's behest. "Sooooo…" She started, trying to break the ice. "Do I get the meet the twins when we get there? I really wanna meet Ebony, and Snaps here has been dying to catch up with Ivory." She continued as she withdrew her one Poké Ball.

Malcolm responded by jerking his head to the back seat as he got situated behind the wheel. "Why wait?"

She eagerly turned around to meet the twins when her jaw dropped at the sight that was awaiting her. A silver Eevee, and a female at that, sitting next to a gorgeous Espeon, who had a smug grin adorning her lips.

"W-who…? How…? When…?" She stuttered, trying to collect her wits… and her jaw.

"The silver one is Ebony. She wants to evolve into an Umbreon when she's ready, and before you ask, that collar has an Everstone fixture so she can't accidently evolve into an Espeon during the day. And of course you've already met Ivory." Malcolm explained as he left the garage and set a destination in the GPS for Phenac.

The teen finally finished collecting her thoughts. "I-I… W-well… Ahem." She coughed "It's, uh, nice to meet you, Ebony. Ivory, you're looking… taller. Did you do something with your fur?" She joked, before turning her head to the side to mutter, "Man, dad would _not_ believe you two exist…"

Ivory rolled her eyes (Not that anyone would notice) at the quip while Ebony shrugged in indifference.

"I'll let you guys get acquainted with Snaps. He'll certainly have some things to talk about with you, Ivory." Scarlett said as she opened her ball to the let Snaps meet his old and new rivals. She then turned her attention to her driver while the Pokémon conversed. "You, sir, have been holding out on me." She accused, her signature smirk making its reappearance on her face.

"'Bout what?" Malcolm asked, nonchalantly.

"First and foremost, a shiny Eevee, a shiny, female, Eevee. What kind of connections do you have to get something like _that_ in Orre of all places?"

"Like I said days ago; I have a friend that owed me a _huge_ favor. One day, he encountered these two in the wild and caught them to give them to me." He wasn't going to mention the drugging, neglect, and other incriminating details. But the best lies are the ones sprinkled with truth.

"I definitely wanna meet this 'friend' of yours." She didn't see him rolling his eyes at that comment. "And Ivory? You got her to evolve into one of the more difficult Eevee branches to get in less than three days? How long _did_ it take you anyway?"

"You know when you rushed home after I agreed to give you this ride?" He asked, to which she nodded. "About 5 minutes after that." He said dryly.

Scarlett's jaw, once again, met with the floor in a mix of disbelief and a slight amount of envy. "Aw man! I missed it by a few minutes?"

* * *

When the bright light of a Pokémon being released from their Ball faded to reveal a Pichu, Ebony cocked her brow to let the newcomer introduced himself.

The Tiny Mouse regarded the silver fox with no small amount of bewilderment before greeting her, oblivious to the Espeon sitting silently behind him. "Hey, Ivory! Long time, no see, huh? Did you dye your fur since I last saw you? You look different. Not bad, though. I like it!"

Ebony face-pawed herself before using said paw to twist the Electric-types body around so he could finally see the Sun Pokémon behind him that he apparently missed. Snaps shot his head back and forth between the sisters a few times before exclaiming, "I am so confused right now!"

Ivory mirrored her sister's face-paw before trying to explain the situation to the mouse. " _I'm_ Ivory!" She exclaimed, pointing to herself before moving her paw towards her sister. " _This_ is Ebony, my sister. I evolved."

"Already!?" He asked, incredulously.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ivory hissed back at him, glaring daggers at the Pichu. She had been increasingly frustrated these past few days and it was wearing down her patience.

Snaps quickly realized where he may have offended her and held his paws up in front of his face to placate his aggressor. "N-no, I didn't mean to upset you! I-it's just… Scarlett told me how you wanted to be an Espeon and went on to explain that we evolve in a similar way; by having a strong friendship between us and our trainers." His eyes fell to his feet in shame while Ivory calmed herself. "I've practically known Scarlett since I hatched two seasons ago. She was the second person I ever saw, the first was my mom. I'm her partner, she's practically a sister to me, but I just can't…" His voice trailed off as he succumbed to grief.

The last vestiges of Ivory's previous anger faded and her expression wilted, knowing she caused his distress. Ebony was the one to provide a comforting embrace to the whimpering Pichu. "Ugh, I'm not much for bedside manners, but…" She sighed to herself before addressing him. "I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it's taking so long for you to evolve. Everyone's different. And when you do evolve after all this time, I'm sure you'll be stronger for it."

He plopped himself down, sitting against the Ivory's haunch, much to her annoyance but she let it slide for now. "Yeah, I guess so… Sorry, I didn't mean to be a downer. Can we talk about something else instead?" The girls both nodded but offered no subjects for discussion, so he continued. "So Ivory, what was it like evolving? Mom never went into detail, so I'm curious."

The feline looked out the window, contemplating how to phrase her response. She watched as Malcolm sped through the dessert, the skyline of Gateon fading as they drove away. "It was… pretty underwhelming, actually. We had just stepped off the elevator after you guys left the other day, and all of the sudden, the bag I was carrying started getting lighter and the hallway to our apartment was getting a little smaller. I didn't even know I had evolved until Malcolm showed me my paw."

"I missed watching you evolve by that much?!" The electric mouse squeaked. "Man, today is just not my day… You guys must really have some chemistry if you already evolved for him."

Ivory continued to look out the window without responding. Her fur covering the blush on her cheeks, but not the tail swaying giddily beneath her.

* * *

The drive to Phenac only lasted for a little over an hour. There was no official speed limit between settlements so Malcolm enjoyed the rare chance to gun it across the desert without repercussion.

The humans and Pokémon conversed among themselves throughout the drive. Scarlett spent most of her time trying to piece together her driver's occupation to figure out how he could afford such an expensive apartment and car, but he maintained his evasive wordplay to be as vague as possible. Meanwhile, Ebony and Snaps were getting acquainted. The fox deemed him to be a nice boy, but ultimately a bit too eccentric for her liking.

Ivory, however, stayed silent. For the most part, her time was spent gazing at the desert as they sped through it, but occasionally took a moment to observe the distance between her trainer and the female sitting next to him. She didn't know why she felt compelled to do so, but just figured it to be a result of their bond.

Eventually, they reached their destination. The city of Phenac, like Gateon, had also undergone major renovations in the past few years. Unlike Gateon, who had to rely on the trade that the port attracted to expand, Phenac made its fame by being a beautiful place to settle and compete.

Phenac was a beautiful blue jewel surrounded by a dead landscape, a man-made oasis in the desert. The city-wide irrigation system had major improvements made to it to allow many of the aquatic Pokémon who belonged to the citizens in town to flow freely. This prompted the expansion of the small town into a residential city. Its primary source of income is the massive amount of tournaments that the Colosseum at the city's highest district hosted, and the tourism that it promoted. Phenac may not be the corporate powerhouse that Gateon is, or the industrial monopoly that Pyrite holds, but it made up for it in having a burgeoning, wholesome, and competitive population.

Malcolm never had much of a reason to visit, aside from getting his trainer license several years ago, so he had to rely on Scarlett's instructions to get there. It turns out that she wasn't very good at directions, either. So after another hour of meandering through the streets, they finally managed to pull into the parking lot to the Pre Gym.

Like the city that hosted it, the Pre Gym also had several improvements made to it since the last time Malcolm was here. An upper floor was built for the lectures and tests for those who sought to get their trainer license and additional arenas were made so more battles could be scheduled in a day.

The group wandered through the ground floor while battles raged in the central arenas. After a while, they were approached by a man with purple, bowl-cut hair that was beginning to grey at the roots. He was wearing a white Pre Gym blazer with gold trimmings, dark purple slacks, and black boots. Malcolm immediately recognized the man as the Pre Gym's Leader, Justy.

"Hello there! You guys looked like you were a bit lost, so I came to see if I can help you out." He said with a kind smile. "Name's Justy, Leader of the Prestige Precept Center, or Pre Gym for short. How can I help?"

Malcolm let Scarlett take the lead since she was the one who desired to come here. "Heya Justy, I'm Scarlett, and this is my partner, Snaps." She said as she lifted the Pichu up to introduce them. "My old man said that visiting your gym would be a pretty good idea before I took on the League back in Johto. So I challenge you to a battle!"

This seemed to puzzle the Leader. "He instructed you to challenge me? Well, you should know, I don't accept any challenge that won't feature a full team battle, and those are double battles. You only have Snaps here. You are free to challenge the other visitors here today, but they will also expect a double battle…" He said, apologetically, while gesturing to the other trainers in the room with his hand.

"Would she be able do a double battle if she teamed up with another trainer who only used one Pokémon?" Malcolm said, offering a hand to shake with Justy. "Name's Malcolm by the way. I came here a few years back to get my license."

Scarlett muttered a quick "Thanks, Malc…" under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear, to which he responded with a quick nod before giving the Pre Gym Leader his full attention again.

"Glad to have you back then Malcolm." Justy said as he accepted the handshake. "But don't you want to use both of your own Pokémon?"

Malcolm knelt down to rub Ivory's neck and felt the vibration in her throat as she purred from his touch. "Actually, this little lady right here evolved only a few days ago and she needs to learn some Psychic-type moves, as well as how to engage in ranged combat before we battle together again. I was wondering if you might have some suggestions for us."

Understanding flashed across the Pre Gym Leader's features as he nodded and looked at Ivory, then Ebony. "Ah! It was a good idea to come here for that then. An Espeon is one of the most fragile Eeveelutions, but excels at ranged combat and speed. The physical moves that it used-"

"She." Malcolm interrupted.

"Apologies, _she_ used as an Eevee are a detriment to her now." He began to look around the room. "Ah, there's a group a Psychic-types right over there" He said, pointing to an isolated corner of the facility. Sure enough, Malcolm could make out the visages of a Kadabra and Hypno loitering by the far wall. "Have her talk with them; they are the Pokémon of some of my protégés so they shouldn't have a problem with tutoring a fellow Psychic."

Ivory turned to her trainer, hopefully. He smiled and nodded to her, giving her the go-ahead. Needing not to be told twice, she made haste to her new teachers.

* * *

The Espeon cautiously approached the small gathering of her fellow Psychic-Types. She still wasn't in the best of moods today from the ride, but she also desired to be able to use her new abilities to their fullest potential, and these Pokémon were going to help her do just that.

The duo seemed to be actively engaging in a conversation, as they were both facing each other and were making eye contact. When she was right next to them, however, Ivory noticed that they weren't actually talking. Their facial expressions were gradually changing as time passed, with the Kadabra growing more agitated, and the Hypo grinning ear to ear with a brow quirked.

A light growl escaped the Kadabra and subsequently averted his gaze from the smirking Hypno, only to be met with an Espeon's perplexed expression. The Hypno also just noticed their audience of one and turned to address her. "Uh, hello? Is there something we can do for you?"

Ivory shelved her confusion to respond. "Yes, actually. I just recently evolved and my trainer suggested I talk to some other Psychic-types to learn how to fight more effectively as an Espeon." She said.

The Psi Pokémon was the first to respond. "Heh, new fish, huh?" He queried, while dismissively averting his gaze. "Hypno, you teach the newbie. My trainer has a match coming up soon and I need to be ready." With that, he walked off, leaving an annoyed Hypno and Espeon in his wake.

"'New fish' my ass" Ivory swore under her breath, but it did not go unnoticed by the Hypno right next to her.

"Eh, don't let him get to you; he's always kept his spoon stored up his ass for safety." The Hypno joked, trying to relieve the tension.

This did manage to get a light chuckle out of her. "If you say so. So can _you_ help me learn some new moves?" She asked hopefully.

"A bit, I guess. Though, your species uses direct psionic attacks to get your way. Mine tends to use Hypnosis to knock out our adversaries and consume their dreams in battle."

"Can I learn to do that?"

"Dream Eater? Not a chance. Very few species of Pokémon have the ability to manipulate dreams for the sake of consumption or recuperation. As for Hypnosis… Espeon never learn to use the move naturally, it's just not in your instincts, and I've never heard of a TM that can teach it to you…" The Hypno said, while considering other possible lessons.

Ivory's face dropped. If only that damned Kadabra was a decent enough person to help…

"However…" The Hypnosis Pokémon continued, cutting off her thoughts. "That doesn't mean I can't teach you how to use it."

Purple eyes shot up wide open to regard the Hypno once again in surprise. "B-but, you said-"

"I said-" Hypno cut her off. "-that you can't learn to use the move naturally. I never said that it was impossible for you to use it. In fact, most Pokémon that can use any Psychic attacks can learn it; however, it just won't be applicable in battle." Seeing that he still had the Espeon's attention, he continued. "Hypnosis is a pretty simple move to use, but Pokémon have a good mental constitution to resist it if you aren't powerful enough with a move for it to have the desired effect. Humans, however, don't have the same resistance that we have, so even a novice who can't even use it in battle can induce sleep.

"It wouldn't be a move to be used in combat. It would mainly be useful to you for everyday life with your trainer. You can use it on them if they have trouble sleeping and they'll be out like a light until noon the next day if you wanted. I can speak from experience here. My trainer suffers from Insomnia, so I artificially induce sleep to help her. You can also use it to subdue another human who's giving you trouble. Aside from that, the most I can help you learn is just Confusion, but it functions in a similar way to Hypnosis so I see no reason not to lump the lessons together." The Hypno concluded.

Ivory turned around to the sight of Malcolm and Scarlett facing off against two of another trainer's Pokémon with Ebony and Snaps standing in front of their respective trainers. A smile tugged at her lips at the sight. "Do you think you will have time to teach me those moves before we leave?" She said as she turned back to her new mentor.

He offered a shrug. "I don't see why not, but we should probably get to work."

The next few hours flew by. Hypno was actually a good teacher, at least for the moves that he was better acquainted with, anyway. He described the process or using Hypnosis as suppressing the brains receptiveness to stimuli, and implanting the idea of sleeping to recover their alertness. Confusion worked in a similar manner. Instead of implanting new directives into the target, however, Confusion has the user jam the targets senses to disorient them and use the resulting mental anguish to deal damage.

By the time that Ivory felt she had a good grasp on using her new attack and felt pretty confident about her ability to use a less effective Hypnosis, Malcolm and Scarlett had wrapped up their last battle for the day and were conversing with Justy again.

Hypno was recovering from the Espeon's latest relentless barrage of Confusions but noticed that their time together was running short, so he started engaging in small talk with his protégé while he could. "Damn kid, you could stand to hold back _a bit_ with those… At least theirs only three of you now."

Ivory smirked at her mentor-turned-victim, feeling pretty proud of the results of her training. She suddenly caught a familiar whiff of something oddly musky, but alluring and her grin turned into a disgusted sneer. Lately, she had been making Malcolm give her extra baths to try to dampen the stink, but it seems to only be getting worse from the strain. _'Damn it, not again with this!'_

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who smelt it. "That time of year, huh? You're timing for evolving wasn't too fortunate." Hypno said, trying to sound sympathetic, despite the lingering dizziness.

His comment was met with the Espeon's head cocked to the side in confusion. "Ah jeez, no one's explained heat to you yet? Great, where's Meowstic when I need her!" He exclaimed while he began to frantically search the crowds of Pokémon in the room.

"'Heat,' 'time of the year,' what are you talking about? Do you know what this damn smell is?" The Hypno's distress was doing nothing to alleviate Ivory's worries.

The Hypnosis Pokémon groaned before responding. "Ugh, now I'm the one who has to explain the 'Pidgeys and the Beedrill.' All right-" Hypno took a deep breath while he thought about how to tell her. "-many species of animals and Pokémon females go through a breeding season. Mammalian ones like the Eevee chain are one of them. During this season, a female will have a change in hormone levels that are associated with ovulation. Long story short, you're most able to get pregnant during this time, and your body knows it.

"To ensure that it does, you will experience a lot of sexual desire and frustration the longer you go without finding a mate. You will also produce a pheromone subconsciously to… uh… 'encourage' a male to help you out. _That's_ what that smell is." He said, putting air quotes around 'encourage.'

Ivory tried to curl her body together tighter as if to contain her newly discovered pheromones. Both Pokémon were blushing heavily from the explanation, but the fur covering their cheeks kept them discrete. "A-and those p-pheromones aren't giving you any i-ideas right now, r-right?" The sun cat stuttered, shooting an accusing glare at her mentor.

This actually got a chuckle out of him. "Oh, Arceus no! My mate would _slaughter_ me if she even caught a whiff of you on me!" His chuckle escalated into full-fledged laughter.

"Mate? _You_ have a mate?" She asked skeptically

That shut him up. "Hey, watch the tone! Of course I have a Mate! She's a Weavile, and she's probably prowling around here somewhere. Just look for a black, bipedal cat with a crown of red feathers and claws that can be used for… cutting things…, that's her." He shuddered, just thinking of her catching him standing around, alone with another female who's in heat.

"But, why now? This never happened to me as an Eevee and my sister never had to deal with this, either. She would have told me about it."

"Pregnancy is a huge strain on the body, just like evolution is. It can't handle both at the same time. A Pokémon that can still evolve will ovulate, but won't enter heat for that reason. Likewise, a Pokémon that can't evolve, just recently evolved, or is fully evolved _can_ enter heat, because their bodies are done developing for a good while, as long as they're fully matured."

Ivory nodded her head in understanding. This certainly lines up with her recent issues with her scent as well as explain her short temper.

At this point, Malcolm had come to collect her so they could head home. Ivory thanked the Hypno for everything he taught her and followed to join the rest of the group in the car.

Snaps and Ebony were wiped after all the battles they got into. It turns out that a lot of people were willing to move their scheduled appointments around to let the duo battle for a chance to see a shiny Eevee in action. They had done fairly well though; Snaps would set up targets for them by paralyzing and confusing their opponents while Ebony viciously assaulted the ones he immobilized.

Scarlett was similarly tired from the thrills of the day and Malcolm was as reserved as ever. About thirty minutes into the ride home, the teen dozed off and her head fell to the side, effectively turning Malcolm's shoulder into a pillow.

Ivory had to suppress the urge to snarl bloody murder at the girl. Hypno's explanation of her heat played in her mind again, and she began to understand her aggression. It still didn't do much to keep her from glaring at the teen though.

When they returned to Gateon, Malcolm dropped his passengers off at their apartment before he went back to his own. They had agreed to share each other's contact info to keep in touch, much to Ivory's displeasure, and determined that they both wanted to return to the Pre Gym at a later date to further hone their skills.

Upon returning home, Malcolm made another swift dinner and they ate in the living room. They spent some time watching crime and mystery shows as a reward for Ebony's performance at the gym since they were her favorite genre. Ivory assumed her usual position of sitting right next to her trainer while Ebony sat in her favorite chair.

When they were done eating, Ivory insisted that he wash her again to rid her of that Arceus-forsaken stench her body was producing. The bath proceeded as it normally did between them…

At least, at first…

* * *

 ***Things get a little _mature_ at this point!***

"Justy told me that you were likely experiencing your first heat." Malcolm broached casually as he put her shampoo away. He also made a mental note to get more, as they were running low due to Ivory constantly demanding baths these past few days.

The Espeon turned to face him with an expression of fear mixed with anxiety, but remained silent.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of; everyone's body does some freaky shit. But he did give me some advice to help you get through it." He said as he lathered his hands with a different substance that Ivory could tell was not her shampoo by scent alone. "He also gave me a lotion for your, uh, sensitive spots…"

Ivory had turned back to face the wall and away from her trainer by that point. Her eyes then shot open as a sudden burst of pleasure flooded her senses. "This stuff is supposed to relieve irritation here, and it should also help to absorb the pheromones that you release from there so you aren't forced to smell your own perpetual arousal 24/7." Malcolm said, as he rubbed the lotion directly onto her womanhood.

Occasional mewls and pants of pleasure were the only thing to escape her lips at that point. And due to the language barrier between them, Malcolm just assumed that it was her way of saying 'yup' or 'uh-huh' to let him know she was listening; which she wasn't.

The feline was in another world with the relief she was feeling, and she was damn sure that the lotion Malcolm was yammering on about wasn't the reason. All Ivory cared about at that point was the pleasure she got from her trainer's ministrations. Gradually, she instinctively lowered her front half down lower while keeping her rear raised for her partner. Her tail moved around sporadically while her jaw slackened, her tongue lazily hanging from her mouth as she pants just above the water line.

But, unfortunately, all good things come to an end… "Alright, I'm done!" Malcolm exclaimed cheerily, having finished applying the ointment.

The rubbing stopped. She felt a bit better because of the salve, but that wasn't what she was concerned about. The rubbing had stopped!

Malcolm was still withdrawing his hand from her pelvis when a forked tail coiled around his forearm and started to pull him back to his Espeon's awaiting snatch. When he looked to the culprit for answers, he was met with a glazed over, frenzied look in her eyes. If he could understand her, the next thing she hissed at him would certainly clear up the confusion on the situation he was in. **"Like Hell you are!"**

Malcolm tried to pull himself free of the Espeon's grip, but the slender tail was surprisingly strong. She forced his hand back against her slit, albeit clumsily, and he began to put the pieces together. _'She doesn't care about getting treatment for her heat; she wants the cure… from the nearest source available!'_ He finally concluded.

Now having a pretty clear understanding about what was happening, he sprang into action. Trying to peel the tail from his arm with his free hand proved to be a poor idea. She just used the fork in her tail to bind his other hand to the first. So apparently using force was out…

It may be time to enter negotiations.

"Ivory, Stop!" He barely raised his voice, but the authority it held stilled the cat's movements. "Whatever you think is going to happen here… its wrong. We are not doing this. I'm human. You're a Pokémon. Nothing good will come out of this, even if I wanted it, which I don't. It's unnatural, not to mention illegal." At this point, the Sun Pokémon relinquished her grip on his wrists and turned to face him with pleading eyes.

Malcolm took this as her version of a disappointed apology and continued. "Listen, I know that your heat isn't exactly the most comfortable thing in the world, and I'm partly to blame for you evolving so early during the season. But I have an idea if you are set on getting it 'cured'. There's a fire escape that will let you climb up and down safely, and there are plenty of nocturnal Pokémon that wander the streets at this time. I'm sure at least one male out there that would be more than happy to… uh… give you a hand… or paw. The exit to the escape is one of the windows in my room. I'll leave it cracked open for the next few nights…"

He kept on going, trying to offer suggestions and comforting words to her, but Ivory had already tuned him out. He was rejecting her. She realized, at that moment, that she doesn't take rejection very well. Well, more specifically, that she doesn't like the reason for the rejection.

Typically, Ivory was the most passive of their little group. She wasn't inherently violent, and prided herself in being the more compassionate litter-mate. But now… her base instincts were beginning to turn her to a more… aggressive line of thought.

 **She wanted to psychically throw him against the wall a few times before dragging him down to the floor. She wanted to make a show of ripping his clothes from his body with her superior claws. She wanted to mark him, to bite his neck so she could prove who he belonged to. She wanted to mount him, keep him pinned with her power, and ride him to completion over and over until he finally learned his place…**

 **Beneath her!**

But she didn't. She couldn't. She was angry, yes, but she did care for and respect him enough that she couldn't just force herself on him. Besides, she wasn't the only one who could face the consequences of such an act. Ebony's livelihood would most likely be in jeopardy as well, and she couldn't do that to her sister, especially now that she and Malcolm had just started making some real headway in their relationship. Even so…

Relief had been within her grasp, both figuratively, and literally, and now she only has rejection to show for it. The stuff that her trainer had spread over her sex helped the ache, but she wanted it gone completely, not just soothed. As such, she was willing to do anything to deal with her heat.

So she reluctantly considered Malcolm's offer.

* * *

True to his word, Malcolm had left the window in his room open so she could reach the fire escape. Ivory recalled him mentioning that he lived on the 13th floor, so she knew she would have a hell of a climb when leaving and returning. The bright side was that the structure was sturdy and used stairs instead of ladders, so she wouldn't have to worry about climbing rungs without opposable thumbs.

She began her descent, trying to calm her heart and mind of the anger and anxiety while going through newer information. Ivory had never mated before, but Malcolm had given her a heads up about a few things before he practically threw her out of his apartment. He taught her about her hymen and how it would sting like a bitch and start bleeding during the first insertion, but it would get better. He also brought up other details about the male anatomy; barbs and knots that she may encounter on some of the more common city-dwelling Pokémon.

It didn't take her long before she reached the penultimate landing on the fire escape. An odd, wet slapping sound brought her out of her thoughts and she looked over the edge to find the source.

 ***Lemon Warning***

A cream colored feline roughly Ivory's size was in a similar position to the one that she instinctively assumed in the bathtub for Malcolm. Behind her was the unmistakable visage of an Umbreon with his glowing yellow rings being the primary source of light for the alley they resided.

Ivory instantly pieced together what was occurring right beneath her; they were mating. The Persian was in the presenting position with her claws raking against the pavement while the Umbreon slammed himself into her at Mach speeds. Her needy mewls of pleasure joined the chorus of lewd, wet slaps that reverberated through the alley.

The Moon Pokémon must have smelt the arrival of a new arrival as he sniffed the surrounding air between his grunting from exertion while he thrust into his partner for all he was worth. When he found the source to be a female Espeon in heat observing their coupling, he issued a warning growl to her not to approach them before resuming his thrusts.

He started slamming into the Persian even harder. She was a drooling mess by that point, and she dug her claws into the pavement even harder to keep herself steady for him. Her Umbreon mate began whispering into her ear and licking the back of her neck soothingly to warn her of his impending climax.

Finally, with a loud and triumphant howl, he hilted himself as deep as he could go within the Persian's tightening love tunnel, his knot ensuring the continuation of his bloodline. Feeling her lover finish, Persian too hissed into the air while relief pervaded her senses as the heat was finally sated.

A few minutes of recovering passed before he looked up to where the Espeon was watching with profound fascination. He collapsed onto the back of his resting partner and lazily ushered the Espeon over to them now that he was finished for the evening. Ivory approached apprehensively, doubt creeping into both her mind and body.

 ***It's Safe Now. You can keep reading. For now...***

The Umbreon looked over the new arrival while panting from the exhaustion of his coupling. Eventually, he spoke, huffing between words. "Hey, (huff) how's it going? (huff) Before you say anything, (huff) I know that smell, (huff) and this isn't (huff) the place to be (huff) looking for help (huff) with it." He groaned loudly while his gasping died down. "Ughh, I am outta shape!" The Persian beneath him started giggling in agreement.

Ivory's head cocked to the side in confusion. "Why shouldn't I be looking for help with my heat?"

Umbreon shook his head. "Oh you _can_ look for help, but an alley isn't exactly the place to do it. Our evolutionary lines prefer finding life mates as opposed to quick romps to deal with the season or improve numbers. The reason _I'm_ out here is to be with her." He explained, patting his resting lover on the side.

The Persian seemed to have recovered enough to make herself known more to the Espeon. "Name's Kitty by the by." She smirked, to which Ivory nodded once to her in acknowledgement.

"Is it impossible for me to get any relief at all? Why do I have to go into heat if I'm supposed to find a life mate?" Ivory's thoughts were swarming with all manner of similar questions.

"Good questions." The Umbreon responded as he dismounted from Kitty's back. "The answer to the second one is that you don't. Not unless you already have a strong candidate in mind when the season comes. So that begs the question… Who you crushing on, Sunshine?" He queried as he grinned and wrapped a paw over her shoulder.

The fur on Ivory's cheeks once again proved their worth to hide her blush. She barely knew these Pokémon, but here she was, asked about her love life and her taboo desires for her own trainer. She was so focused on her chaotic thoughts and trying to hide her embarrassed face from view that she missed the Umbreon's eyes glow a light blue for a moment before receding.

"A human, huh?" Ivory abruptly turned her head in response to Umbreon's question. "And you're trainer, no less. Kinky. I like it" When the Espeon's expression shifted from surprise to confusion, he continued. "My trainer had me learn Psychic, so I can read minds. That's how I know.

Kitty decided that she was going to put her two cents into the conversation. "A human! Ah, the taboo, the forbidden romance. Just two lovers, living their lives with their love reserved for the shadows behind closed doors. I love it!" She was quite animated as she ranted, circling Ivory's form as she spoke.

Said cat adopted a downcast expression at her words. "I… tried. He rejected me, because I'm a Pokémon." She mumbled as her eyes watered from the reopened wounds of rejection.

The Classy Cat suddenly embraced Ivory in a hug while she nuzzled her check. "Awwww! Don't worry Sunshine; I'm sure he'll come around!"

Ivory probably would have been more placated if Malcolm didn't specifically reject her species, and not just her. She would have also appreciated the hug more if the one giving it didn't reek of sex and get her name wrong… "My name is 'Ivory,' and how do you know that?" She asked with pleading eyes.

Kitty broke off the embrace and gave Ivory a knowing smile. "Because, 'Ivory,' as the alpha of the wild Pokémon in this city, I have had several opportunities to know that humans _love_ to do things outside the bounds of the law. It may take some time and persuading, but I'm sure that you'll have him offering himself to your desires on a nightly basis."

When she noticed that Ivory's face practically screamed 'I'm not too sure about that,' she continued. "Besides, he's a fragile human, and you're a Pokémon who has the ability to bend reality with your mind. I'm sure you can find some means of getting what you want-" She was cut off by Umbreon's paw being shoved into her mouth.

"Alright, that's enough of that." He turned to address Ivory. "Look, just go home. Sleep on it, I'm confident that you'll find some way of bringing him around to your way of thinking." He offered his advice with a kind smile.

"Why are you guys helping me, anyway?" Ivory asked her unlikely confidants. "You don't know me, and I've done nothing to earn your favor?"

The cream colored feline pulled the Moon Pokémon's paw from her mouth to respond. "What can I say? I adore romance stories with star-crossed lovers." She said as she looked over to her lover.

Umbreon rolled his eyes with a grin before turning his attention back to his daytime counterpart. "We Eeveelutions gotta look out for each other. Not too many of us in this region." He offered with a shrug.

Ivory's lips curled into a small, heartfelt smile and her eyes softened. "Well… thank you guys, really." She turned around and began to ascend the stairs of the fire escape. At the second landing, she looked over the edge to look at the couple. "I hope I get to meet you guys again!" She called before turning and resuming her climb.

Down below, Umbreon and Kitty watched as Ivory left. Kitty whispered into her mate's ear with a smirk. "I'm surprised you didn't try to convince her into joining us."

Umbreon deadpanned to her and responded the only way he knew how; with sarcasm. "I don't even want to be involved with you, let alone _another_ feline." The only response that the Persian could muster was to roll around on the ground, with her front paws crossed to hold onto her sides as she howled with laughter. The smallest smirk made its way to his lips as he quirked his brow at her. "What's so funny?"

He made his way to the end of the alley at a deliberately slow pace to let his mate collect herself and catch up with him.

* * *

Ivory was climbing the stairs while wrestling with her thoughts. ' _It'll take time to convince him that I am perfectly capable of being a viable mate to him, so I'll likely be on my own for the season._ ' She was half of the way back to Malcolm's bedroom.

A far more… aggressive… persona voiced its opinion on the matter. **We won't have to wait out the heat if we just hold him down!**

The Espeon physically rolled her eyes in irritation. ' _No, but actions have consequences. We'll get in trouble, get kicked out (if we're lucky), then we won't get our dream mate. It's that simple._ '

 **You heard what that Persian said. He's a fragile human. He's powerless to us. He'll learn his place in time.** She was 5 floors away from home.

' _Yeah, 'cause that makes a functional, loving relationship_.' She thought, sarcastically. ' _I can overcome this heat, and then find a way to seduce him. And I'll do it at my pace, not at my body's._ ' She thought with conviction. 3 floors away.

 **Yeah, we can suffer through the season, no problem! Writhing on the couch in agony with our 'dream mate' just out of our reach. The only comfort he'll provide is some ointment and the offer to leave his window open, expecting us to let ourselves be taken advantage of by some random-ass male next to a dumpster in an alley while he's snoozing away in a comfy bed! Day after day, year after year, we'll face rejection and empty hearts and wombs until you can convince him to give us a chance, however long that'll take!** The voice paused. Ivory was just one floor away from home, but she stopped mid-step. **But we don't need to suffer through that. After all… what he doesn't know won't hurt him.**

For just a moment, Ivory's convictions wavered. But that small moment was all her instincts needed to assume control. A wicked grin made its way to her lips as she stretched her body. **Yes, he'll be all ours for this season, and every one after it.**

 **Whether he likes it, or not!**

* * *

Ivory made her way into the bedroom of the apartment while her mate-to-be slumbered peacefully in his large bed. Moving on, she went to the bathroom to retrieve a towel from the closet next to the bathroom door and stuffed it into her mouth while she silently closed the door with her tail.

She peered into the living room to spy her sister slumbering peacefully on the couch with the TV still on. Hypno's words echoed in her mind; 'Pokémon have a good mental constitution to resist it if you aren't powerful enough with a move for it to have the desired effect.' The Espeon glared in annoyance but made no other moves. Ebony was a deep (and frequent) sleeper, and todays festivities had no doubt drawn her into a deeper sleep than normal.

The Sun Pokémon concluded her tour of their home by rounding back to Malcolm's bedroom, once again closing the door with her tail. She silently peered at her mate-to-be through half-lidded eyes as she watched him sleep. Soon, he would be hers.

Ivory jumped onto the bed and prowled over to his head as if she was stalking prey. When she reached him, she gently nudged him awake with her paw. Eventually, he tiredly opened his eyes, only to peer into grizzly image of the glazed-over purple eyes of his Espeon watching him. "Huh… Wha-… Ivory..?" He bumbled through his words as his mind struggled to reorient itself. Sadly, it wouldn't make much progress as Ivory's eyes took on a light blue glow as she channeled her power from her mind into the gem on her forehead.

 **Hypnosis**

Malcolm's head fell limp back onto the pillow below. His features totally relaxed as Ivory looked him over to ensure that her plan worked. The only movement he exhibited was the deep rise and fall of his chest, and the rapid eye movement beneath his eyelids.

He was definitely in a deep sleep.

Satisfied with the results, Ivory licked her lips salaciously as she moved on to step two of her plan. Dropping the towel on his chest for now, she gripped the blankets draped over his body with her mouth and dragged it down to the foot of the bed.

As she still lacked the ability to use Psychic to move her trainers slumbering body, she settled for using her paws and fangs to move his pajama shirt under his arms so she could marvel at his physique. He was no muscle-bound bodybuilder, hell, he was hardly athletic, but she found his figure to be alluring nonetheless. She did find his hairlessness to be and odd design choice, but it certainly wouldn't be enough to dissuade her from her goal.

His sweatpants soon suffered a fate similar to his shirt. Drool flooded the feline's mouth as desired flooded her mind now that there was nothing to separate their sexes. The urge to climb atop him right then and there was a difficult one to repress, but she still had one last thing to deal with; the towel.

Ivory maneuvered herself under both of her trainer's knees and moved up to his waist, keeping herself perpendicular to Malcolm's body. As she moved closer to his pelvis and put the towel in her mouth once more and shook it to unfold it completely. Still holding onto it, she began to withdraw herself from under him as the towel was placed under her mate-to-be's pelvis. Now the towel would catch any spillage instead of the bed beneath her.

Now it was time for step 3 of her plan.

 ***This is where the sleep rape begins in earnest! You have been warned.***

The eager Espeon wasted no time in positioning herself at the fork of his legs. She began to playfully bat at her mates cock to examine his 'assets.' It was fairly small right now, and mighty flabby, but she knew there was more to it than that. She saw that Umbreon's member gradually retract into his body when he did his business with Kitty, so she just assumed that humans worked in a similar fashion.

The object of her fascination began to stir from her swatting so she began to massage him with her soft paw pads. While her paws worked him over, Ivory brought her face down lower to examine his lower assets. When she gave them a curious sniff, she was hit with an incredibly potent dose of masculine musk right into her nostrils. One sniff and she couldn't control herself anymore.

She buried her nose into his testes, taking deep breaths to absorb his musk and imprinted her mind with her new mate's scent. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she took long and steady whiffs as though she was starved for oxygen.

She drew one of the orbs into her mouth, careful of scraping her sharp fangs against him, suckling and licking it with her barbed tongue before she moved on to the other. One last deep breath to take in his musk and a light nuzzling of his nuts were her way of sweetly parting from the objects that would soon help her cure her heat.

She brought her attention back to the member that her paw was continuously kneading. Her ministrations had brought her mate to his full length. Human measurements were a lost concept to a Pokémon that had no need to learn them, but the Espeon still felt compelled to thoroughly examine his tool. His shape was vastly different from the brief glimpses of the Umbreon's that she met earlier. The Dark type's was entirely red, had a tapered end, and a bulbous base, but Malcolm was nearly cylindrical with a bulbous tip. Ivory may not have been experienced in the average length of human males, (or any species for that matter) but she was certain he was more than qualified for satisfying her…

And it was time for the main event…

Without wasting any more time, the Sun Pokémon climbed up her mate's body until she was straddling his hips. She proceeded to further prepare him for insertion by grinding her leaking need against his erected member. Her breath hitched and she bit her lower lip as she felt him rub against her clit.

When she was satisfied that he was sufficiently prepared to penetrate her, she took one of her forepaws to align him with her slick folds. Slowly, she slid the head of his member into her awaiting snatch, sighing in relief as his length speared her sopping walls. It took every last ounce of self-control she had to not just slam herself down on him, but she needed to show restraint for her plan to work. For now…

She adjusted her stance and kept her hinds planted on both sides of his waist while she rested her front paws on the bed on either side of his body. Her tail wrapped around one of his legs possessively as she lowered her upper body to lie on his torso. This stance wasn't her first choice, but it would keep her from scratching him. She could clean bodily fluids from his skin once she was fully satisfied, but she couldn't instantly mend wounds he sustained during their copulation.

There was nothing left to do now except take the plunge, literally. Ivory gazed at Malcolm's features, completely relaxed from his deep REM sleep. The more rational parts of her mind were screaming at the instincts that had taken control of her body, telling them to stop before they made her do something she would come to regret.

But her instincts were far too invested to stop now.

Finally, the feline slammed her hips down, swallowing her trainer's manhood nearly to the hilt and… _Arceus-be-damned_ did it hurt like a _bitch!_ Her hymen was breached. Malcolm had warned her about it when he gave her pointers before she went down the fire escape, but saying that it stung 'just a bit' was an _understatement_! It took a great deal of willpower not to scream at the top of her lungs. As it was, she did let out a low hiss in pain while she sank her claws into the towel below on reflex.

But… he was finally in her. She took a moment to savor that fact. They had past the point of no return, and there was no one who was gonna stop her now.

After a brief pause, the pink cat gradually started to bob her hips up or down, the pain from the initial insertion slowly ebbing away into pure pleasure. The heat was getting a grip on her mind yet again and the burn in her womb increased in intensity every time her thrust yielded a gentle nudge on her cervix from Malcolm's glans.

She couldn't fully hilt him, there was still a small bit left whenever she felt the tip press against her barrier. As the last vestiges of pain faded, Ivory's hips became a blur as she slammed herself down on him as fast as her legs would allow.

The feeling of him deep inside her, using his rod to massage her inner walls felt so amazing to her. As minutes passed, her jaw slackened. Her tongue was hanging lazily from her mouth while drool pooled on Malcolm's chest, and she began to pant from the combination of strenuous effort mixed with indescribable joy.

She was joined with him. They were performing the deepest, most intimate and romantic act that two individuals could do. She wasn't too concerned about the circumstances of their coupling right now. And she sure as hell wasn't concerned about the consequences.

The consequences were for the future. But right now… she only had one need. One thing was on her mind now; breeding.

To get a different angle, she leaned back while keeping him inside her. She was squatting on her hind legs, but this new angle let her get a better look at her mate's face while she grinded against him.

His once peaceful expression had scrunched a bit in subconscious arousal. Her eyes scanned his features and devoting them to memory. As her gaze wandered downward, down to where they were connected, she was greeted by the lewd sight of her distended belly. She experimented with the wondrous sight before her by carefully lifting her hips again and watched as the bulge disappeared in tandem with her lifts and falls.

That sight, combined with the explosive pleasure that he hammered into her with her thrusts, was enough to push her over the edge.

Her hips instinctively pushed down against Malcolm's shaft as hard as she could as her walls convulsed and constricted, eagerly milking her mate for the seed that he… actually wasn't giving. The Sun Pokémon's body locked up while she was still sitting up on top of him. A conscious effort had to be made to keep her front paws in the air while her activities stopped and her nervous system was flooded with dopamine.

When her body finally finished convulsing, she gently lowered herself back to her original position. She kept her partner aroused by gently grinding his cock against her walls while she rested and panted quickly to catch her breath.

She may have cum once, but she wasn't even close to finished. Her womb was still empty, it demanded his essence, and she would do anything to complete that objective. Even the rational voice in her head was in agreement. If she stopped now, she would go mad with desperation and frustration. Even if someone barged into the room, even if Malcolm woke up and begged her to get off, she would continue. She needed his seed now, and she was gonna get it.

Once again, she took up her original position; crouching over his abdomen on all fours. With her breath back, she resumed her thrusts at full speed. Her face was scrunched in a dominating scowl, all but snarling at him to do his duty; to breed his loving mate.

" **Just… do it!"** She quietly hissed at him with bared fangs, as though she would intimidate his slumbering form to submit to her. **"Give it to me… Cum in your beloved Espeon!"**

She was alternating between vicious thrusts and wild grinding, attempting to further entice him to climax within her tightening walls. The sound of wet slaps filled the air as she…

Wait…

Wet slaps?

That was a new noise. The feline looked back down at their joined sexes and noted that Malcolm's member was fully hilted within her now, and since he had previously only been able to reach her cervix…

He was fully hilted within her womb… a perfect fit.

She went into overdrive as all sense of subtlety was abandoned. Deep within her body, she could feel the tip of her mate's dick pressing against the back of her uterus. The wet slaps rang loud in the room, similar to the alleyway during Umbreon's conquest in the streets.

" **Breed me!"** She snarled. She could feel her life-mate throbbing within her, his hands clenched unconsciously as he approached his orgasm, while Ivory swiftly worked her way up to her second. **"Fill me up!"** She called to him.

Malcolm's hips started bucking wildly, subconsciously trying to bury his length as deep within her warmth as possible. She responded by aggressively slamming her hips down on him again to keep him still, continuing to command him all the while. **"You… (huff) are MINE! And you WILL Give. Me. Your. Kiiiiiiiits!"** She punctuated her words with her final thrusts. Her hissing demands devolved into shameless mewling as she came.

This orgasm was far more aggressive than the last. All the strength in her body left her as she collapsed on his body, all the muscle in her body convulsing as she mindlessly kneaded at the towel beneath them.

But the most important aspect of this particular climax was that she wasn't the only one to finish. Boiling warmth filled her insides. Instantly, her heat was relieved as a sense of total satisfaction and fulfillment washed over her.

" **Yyyyyyeeeessssssss…"** She released a guttural moan, reveling in the feeling of her insides being painted while her drooling cavern simultaneously relieved him of every seed she could.

After just a few spurts, she could feel this new warmth flood the rest of her love tunnel and spill onto the body beneath her, but she was far more concerned with enjoying the afterglow.

With her primal need for breeding sated, Ivory found that she had full agency in her own body once again, which means she didn't get long to enjoy the lingering pleasure from her orgasm.

She slowly lifted her hips off of Malcolm's spent member to investigate the mess she made. A coat of sweat and drool coated his abdomen while his pelvis and lap was absolutely soaked in a combination of his cum, and her feminine juices and a small amount of blood.

It was quite the mess she made. And a small piece of her was actually proud of the state she left him. But the rest of her was fully focused on eliminating the evidence as much as she could.

She began by sitting on the side of the towel and lifting one of her hind legs so she could clean her fur and womanhood of their cocktail of bodily fluids. The taste of raw, mutual satisfaction hit her tongue. While she wouldn't say that the flavor was her favorite in the world, she was far more interested in the source of the flavor.

When her fur was back in a decent condition, she turned her efforts to cleaning off her lover of their fluids. As she was finishing cleaning her trainer-turned-mate's shaft, it began to twitch back to life at her efforts, but she didn't have the time or willpower to force herself on her slumbering friend again.

A soft smile adorned her cum-stained lips as she looked at it adoringly. "Maybe someday both of us could participate in doing this…"

Once Malcolm's body was sufficiently cleaned off, she moved onto the towel. One glance at the state the thing was in made her quite thankful that she had the foresight to actually use it to conceal the evidence of her deed.

It had several sets of small punctures from her claws and was coated in both of their juices, as well as a small splotch of blood from the loss of her virtue. Once she had it out from under him, she made to take it into the bathroom to clean it of most of their essences.

She slowly and carefully opened both doors to the bedroom and bathroom before she checked of the status of her sister who, thank Arceus, was still asleep. She then used the sink in the bathroom to clean out the towel of cum and blood.

After she finished ringing out towel of water with her paws, she threw it into the hamper under a bunch of other towels. Malcolm had said that the hotel would do that kind of laundry and she figured that the staff would just think that the scratches and holes her claws created were just a result of her getting playful or clumsy. Pokémon were allowed in the building so she wasn't too worried about it.

 ***Ok. It's safe now.***

With the last stage of her vile plan completed, Ivory slunk back into Malcolm's bed and laid herself down next to her re-clothed trainer, between his arm and torso.

Her heat was gone; that abysmal, perpetual arousal that had been plaguing her mind since after she evolved was no more. But the price she paid and forced him to pay was heavy. By doing what she did, she betrayed his trust in her, and memories of her first time would forever be tainted by the abuse of that trust.

Despite that, though, she couldn't really bring herself to truly regret it. Her first time was with him. Not some stranger in an alley, him. Her instincts may have increased the urgency of having a mate, but she wasn't ashamed about whom she did it with.

Ivory turned her head to look upon Malcolm's slumbering face with a solemn and determined glint in her eyes. _'I promise you this, love; despite the taboo you humans places upon it, despite however you yourself may find it unnatural, I will prove myself to be worthy of being your mate. I will do everything in my power to make you happy.'_ She vowed in her mind. _'And I hope that one day, you will be able to forgive me for this.'_

With that last thought, she nuzzled her head into the crook of Malcolm's neck, letting his scent fill her nose and settle her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Been a while, no? I won't bore you with the details of why this took me so long to get this out, but, suffice to say, my hiatus is over.

Some of you may have noticed that I'm not exactly the most responsive with the reviews and PM requests. That's just part of who I am and I apologize for being unresponsive. I am far too introverted to actively participate in online conversations. Ironic for someone that now officially writes smut on the Internet, don't you think? That being said, I DO read the messages and reviews, and I appreciate them greatly. I'm just not good about responding. So please bear with me, and I'll try to improve my social skills. Thank you for your patience.

As for story stuff, this chapter wasn't projected to be as long as it was. But I had promised you lemons in the next chapter, and I honor my promises, dammit! Originally, I had estimated this chapter to be about 8000 words or so, but introducing a couple of new characters took longer than I thought, but I like how things turned out thus far. Also, this is my first lemon… ever, so that took some time to try to do a decent job.

That said, the story isn't even close to done and I still have plenty of other stories I want to write about. And I hope you guys will be around to view them. But to make sure I get them out, I will have much work to do…

* * *

 **Epilogue**

The cellphone buzzed loudly on the desk in the office overlooking the Gateon Port and the mass of growing corporations and apartment complexes that dotted the cityscape. A woman took a seat on the desk next to the phone and read the caller ID.

*Click*

" **Yes, what is it?"**

*A long string of unintelligible mumbling followed.*

" **Huh. Impressive, I must say. At least they were imaginative in their break-in. Who was their carrier, then?"**

*Mumbling*

" **Dr. Bryce? You're sure?"**

*"Mmhm" followed by a mumbled inquiry*

" **Oooooh, I don't know… Send him to the Sub Labs. They've been falling behind on projected progress for the Project recently. See if he can't be motivated to improve their pace…"**

*An inquiring mumble*

" **Yes, just one of them though. Let him pick which one. Tell him that the process can be reversed if, and only if, he can correct his most recent blunder."**

*Click*

She casually tossed the phone back on its original spot on the desk and sighed. **"Hmmm."** She lost herself in thought, sorting through recent events. **"One of, if not** _ **the**_ **, biggest leader in scientific advancement in Orre was breached by only two intruders. On top of that, they made a clean get away after stealing** _ **my**_ **pass codes. The gall… Heh."**

The woman stalked over to the window behind the desk in her office to look over the City beneath her. A smirk made its way to her lips as she watched the head and tail lights moving through the dark streets below. **"Not bad…"**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Consequences

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

The morning for Malcolm started the same way it has the past few days… With a blaring alarm clock ringing in his ear, signaling that he needs to reapply the collar to a certain shiny Eevee.

He slammed his hand onto the alarm button to stop the blasted beeping and made to get up, but noticed that he was being grappled by a slumbering Espeon that attached herself to his torso. Knowing how much of an early bird she is, Malcolm gathered that she did indeed have a late night last night.

' _Poor thing's probably exhausted.'_ He thought. Pity and guilt twisted his heart as the memory of Ivory's coaxing in the bathtub resurfaced. _'Sorry girl. I may be a crook, but there are lines even I won't cross. It was nothing personal…'_

After he managed to wiggle out of the cat's grasp without waking her, he ran his hand over her side in apology. Though she was still asleep, the action did get her to release a slight sigh as she nestled into his spot on the bed to bask in his lingering warmth.

Her movement allowed Malcolm to get a look at a strange spot on the bed where her backside was. He didn't need to be a Pokémon Professor to know what the substance was, given the circumstances. He curiously inspected the offending spot and the area on Ivory's body that caused it and noticed that she was fairly clean but she was still… leaking… eh.

' _What a guy…'_ He thought, offhandedly.

Malcolm rose from the bed and set about to complete his morning rituals. With his teeth brushed, body washed, and collar applied to Ebony's neck (thankfully without waking her prematurely), he got the tub ready for yet another bath for Ivory.

* * *

Ivory was roused with gentle prods against her shoulder. "Five more minutes…" She groaned, refusing to face the waking world just yet.

"Come on, Ivy. I can't just let you sleep in your own mess, can I?" A voice responded in a soft voice, followed by a warm chuckle.

The Sun cat's eyes snapped open at that question. "'Mess?'" She looked up at Malcolm, who was sitting on the edge of their bed, rubbing her shoulder. When the human's head jerked in the direction of her rear end, she lifted her hind leg and inspected the mess he accused her of.

It turns out her self-grooming last night wasn't sufficient to clean her out completely. She looked back at Malcolm, who had turned his head to preserve her modesty during her self-inspection, and called her species name in apology.

His response was pleasingly calm and compassionate. "Hey now! None of that. It's perfectly natural, nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, this mess is probably nothing compared to what other beds in this apartment have seen." He chuckled at his own joke briefly while he moved to lift her from the bed and carry her into the bathroom bridal style.

* * *

Malcolm gently sat the psychic type in the tub for her third bath in the past two days. He made a mental note to himself that he needed to pick up more shampoo later since Ivory's heat had been a major strain on that particular resource. He was also concerned that the frequent bathing would have an ill effect on her skin or fur from using the shampoo too much in too short a time, but seeing as how she and her sister were stuffed in a kennel for roughly a fortnight he wasn't going to tell her that she wasn't getting a bath.

Ivory was in heaven as the warmth of the bath water soothed her aching pelvis and haunches. A sigh escaped her lips as Malcolm used one hand to keep her upright against the tubs edge to let gravity do its thing while his other hand set to work her shampoo into her matted fur and massage her aching legs.

While her trainer worked on grooming her, Ivory took the opportunity to stare at him endearingly. His touch was having a far more… arousing effect on her than she was used to. Her heat was gone, she was sure of it, but she couldn't explain why Malcolm looked, felt, and even smelled far more appealing than what she remembered.

As these thoughts circulated through her mind, Malcolm spoke up as he began lathering up the less contaminated sections of her body that wasn't as sullied from her little tryst last night. "You know, it's weird. I felt oddly… relaxed this morning. It's like I was frustrated without knowing it, and, all of the sudden, it was gone. Like I was pent up or something. You ever feel like that?"

The Espeon's heart skipped a few beats as she shakily shook her head. He couldn't have found her out already, right? No, there was no way! Her Hypnosis did its job; he was out like a light. She fearfully looked up at him, only to notice that his face betrayed no hints of anger or resentment.

"I guess the pheromones you were releasing these past few days actually had an effect on me after all, and with your heat gone I'm not as tense." He mused, absentmindedly.

Ivory let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in as her heart rate dropped back to its normal rhythm. A question began to burn in her mind. It seemed so unlikely as a possibility, but she needed his input and they were already on the subject… kinda.

She tapped one of her paws against the hand pinning her to the bath tub to gain his attention. When she got it, she began rubbing both of her front paws against her belly while muttering an inquiry in her native tongue.

An inquiry blocked by the language barrier.

A grin formed on Malcolm's lips. "Yeah, I bet you're hungry. Don't worry, I'll make us breakfast after we're done here." He rolled his eyes. Food was always the Espeon's top priority. He had to bite back a comment about her having a Snorlax in her family tree. She was more easygoing than her sister in terms of jokes, but he was pretty sure that jab would get his brain melted.

The Sun Pokémon pouted at his failure to understand, but when he placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head just above the ruby on her forehead, her pout morphed into a content smile as she practically sank into the bath water.

She shook her head to regain focus and got his attention once again. She made the same motion as before but used her paws to draw the shape of an uneven oval in the air.

An egg.

Understanding dawned on Malcolm as he finally picked up on what she was getting at. "You're asking about what would happen if you have an egg?" When she nodded he looked up in thought as he considered the options.

He certainly wasn't going to hold the likely pregnancy against her, so if she opted to keep the egg, he would certainly help her where he could, but from what he remember from his classes, new mother Pokémon were extremely picky about who was allowed near an egg or newborn.

Though he couldn't recall the exact details, he remembered that the Eevee lines were fast developers, so they wouldn't take too long to gestate and mature. As for feeding, Ivory should be perfectly equipped with the milk needed to keep the kits full, assuming she didn't have a prior condition that prevented her from doing so. All of this assuming she wanted to keep the egg, if she even had one.

He finally returned his eyes to meet Ivory's questioning gaze. "Well, if you weren't interested in keeping the egg, I heard of a daycare in some village to the North that would take unwanted eggs. Hell, there are plenty of people in town that would probably love the opportunity to have an Eevee of their own."

Malcolm noticed that his Espeon's downcast visage, so he continued. "Of course, if you wanted to keep the kid…" He trailed off and Ivory brought her full attention back to him. His arms wrapped around her torso and brought her wet body to his in a joyous embrace "…we'll do our best to look after the little tyke." He concluded with a smile, and Ivory beamed. She used her forepaws to grasp his forearm and began to thoroughly nuzzle it with intermittent strokes with her tongue.

* * *

With the bath having concluded and all traces of Ivory's 'nighttime excursion' fully eliminated from her body, the lavender cat lounged on the couch in her usual position while her trainer prepared breakfast. Omelets were the plan for this morning, though Malcolm did express a bit of hesitancy in feeding a certain Espeon eggs while she may or may not be carrying one.

While the human prepared the food, Ebony picked up a disturbingly appealing scent. Not originating from the food (for once), but Malcolm's bedroom. The silver fox was well enough acquainted with Malcolm's habits by now to feel like this particular smell was certainly an anomaly.

He was a bit of a neat freak, finding any clutter or stray laundry in the apartment was a very rare sight and swiftly rectified. The smell couldn't be his natural musk as well, as she knows he bathes himself at least once a day. The odd stench, as far as Ebony could tell, wasn't Malcolm in origin.

But what she _did_ smell was a whole lotta Ivory.

Deciding that she should find out more about the issue from the source, Ebony made to leave the bedroom and took a seat next to her younger sister. This action drew Ivory's attention immediately as Ebony had previously opted for remaining on the single chair ever since their first night in the apartment.

Ivory warmly nudged her sister before cocking an eyebrow. "What's up? You don't normally choose to sit with Malcolm and I over here." Ebony looked at her sister and silently analyzed her, making said sister a bit nervous.

She acted more like her usual self, from before her evolution. That edge to her voice was gone, and her temper seems to have settled as well. Even her body language showed that she was back to her usual relaxed attitude with little regard for personal space.

Ebony ceased her analysis to address her sister's concern. "Yeah, I'm good, thanks." The Eevee adopted a concerned look for her sister before asking. "Are _you_ ok? You were a bit out of it for the past few days."

Ivory dropped her nervous expression with a sigh but remained a bit uncomfortable, as she knew this conversation would likely steer towards subjects she wasn't too keen on discussing with her sibling. "Yeah, I'm better now. I was going through this thing called 'heat,' and I-"

The fox was quick to raise her paw to stop Ivory's explanation. "I know what heat is. Mom told me what it is before we left the den."

Her sister nodded her understanding while absentmindedly watching the news on the television until something clicked and abruptly turned to face her sister with a scowl. "What do you mean mom told _you_ about heat?! She didn't tell me diddly squat!"

The Evolution Pokémon scooted away from her sibling and put up a paw to placate her sister. "Yeah… mom may have intended for me to give you 'the talk' that we had, but it sooorta slipped my mind…" She turned her head to the side nervously to avoid her sister's glower. "That's my bad."

After a few more minutes of glaring, Ivory dropped her anger with a sigh and once again brought her attention to the TV. "Eh, it's alright. All things considered, it could have been a far worse mating season."

Ebony noticed her sister staring off in the distance, likely in her own thoughts. She seemed so melancholic. The Eevee got up again and plopped herself down against her sister to comfort her. "What's got you looking so down? You and your 'gentleman suitor' not part on good terms?"

Ivory snapped her head back to her sister in alarm. "What?! No! It's nothing! I'm just thinking-"

"-Bout what?" Ebony interrupted. "About the baby? Your boyfriend? Boy toy?"

"STOP! Please…" Ivory sighed. She noticed Malcolm snap his head up from his sizzling pan from her shouting, but brought his attention back to the eggs. "First, I don't even know if I conceived. Second, I wouldn't say 'boyfriend,' but I- eh, it's complicated. That's all I'm gonna say on _any_ of that stuff. Satisfied?"

"Were you?" Ebony retorted with a smug sneer and wiggling eyebrows to then soak in the subsequent groan her sister released. Otherwise, Ivory opted to ignore her sister to avoid giving her more ammo for dirty jokes.

The sisters brought their attention back to the TV in silence, but quickly zoned out due to disinterest. Malcolm had it on the morning news so he could listen to current events while he worked on breakfast.

The current story was about a company called "Prophet Tech" doing a massive upgrade to their security systems for unknown reasons. There was also a pretty big storm set to hit the region in the next few days.

…

…

…

"So… do you know why Malcolm's room reeks of sex?" Ebony nonchalantly broached the subject only for her sister to turn to her in surprise and… fear?

"W-w-why, n-never mind." She drew in a sharp breath as she steadied her hastened pulse. "When I… took care of my 'issue,' I came back to his room as soon as I was done and came to cuddle with our trainer for comfort."

Ebony turned to face her sister with a hurt expression. "Y-you'd rather have some human you haven't known for a week comfort you instead of your own sister who you've known your whole life?" Her lower lip began to tremble as her eyes began to water.

Panic graced Ivory's face once again when she made to hug her sister with her front paws. "N-no! I didn't mean to make you upset, sis. It's just- he, uh, he was right there when I came back through the window, and I was, uh-. I'm sorry, Ebony!" She was thoroughly nuzzling the back of her sister's head while she embraced her.

At least until she heard some barely contained chuckles next to her ear.

Ivory released her sister just as she burst into full-blown laughter.

Ebony was clutching her sides laughing at her sister's perplexed and concerned appearance as she collapsed on her side on the couch. After a few moments, she settled down to address Ivory's confusion. She righted herself on the couch and used a paw to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"He he he, sorry sis, I couldn't help myself." When Ivory began to give her an annoyed glare she continued. "I know you're head-over-paws for the guy, of course you'd wanna cuddle with the guy for pillow-talk." She punctuated her statement with a playful smirk.

Ivory laid down on the other side of the couch with a groan. "Can we _please_ stop talking about my sex life now? One more episode like that and I think my heart's gonna explode."

The silver fox rolled her eyes before she settled into her usual spot on the adjacent chair. For some reason, she got the feeling that her sister wasn't being entirely upfront in some of her statements regarding her heat, but chose to honor her sister's wishes and dropped the subject.

For now.

* * *

The next several days fell into a routine for the trio. At Malcolm's insistence, they began to take up jogging, primarily to boost Ebony's stamina. They were occasionally visited by Scarlett and Snaps so they could work on her double battling skills.

One morning, Malcolm and Ebony were woken by the pleasant early day ambiance of a certain Psychic cat vomiting loudly into the toilet. Knowing about the probability of her condition and recognizing the warning signs of pregnancy from the soaps he watched when nothing else was on; Malcolm dragged both her and her sister to the Pokémon Center for a checkup.

Ebony was submitted for a routine checkup at the Center in the Battle Park while Ivory was admitted to a room for a full examination while Malcolm waited in the lobby. Within 10 minutes, the Eevee was returned to her trainer in her Luxury Ball by the attending nurse. He found an empty corner in the waiting room to release the vixen, then swiftly concealed her in his jacket so she didn't attract too much attention to herself because of her silver fur.

Ivory's examination, however, was far more thorough. The lady with deep blue hair and a maroon outfit kept prodding her with medical equipment attached to monitors while continuously giving her instructions so she could gather more data. The occasional praise that she got for her compliance was drowned out by the constant cooing and fawning of the Blissey that was also in the room.

Ever since she was put in the room she always had at least one Blissey or Chansey in her personal space at all times. They almost seemed anxious for something…

While the feline was contemplating this, however, the attending nurse finally addressed her without giving her instructions. "Alright! I think that about covers it. You'll be pleased to know that you are, in fact, in good health! The better news is that… well… I'll let the girls explain that to you in greater detail. I'll go get your trainer and bring him here so we can go over everything together." She walked over to the door and, upon opening, revealed a whole entourage of even more Chansey and Blissey! "See you in a bit!" And with that, she parted the sea of rotund, pink bodies and left.

Now it was just her and a swarm of Egg and Happiness Pokémon, all of whom looked like they were about to explode with excitement. When Ivory finally opened her mouth to ask them about the so-called 'better news,' they all opened the floodgates of joy and proceeded to smother her and affection and encouraging words.

This certainly wasn't doing much to alleviate her anxiety, until they all backed up enough to give the Sun Pokémon her space back. One of the Blissey noticed Ivory's confusion so she gestured to the egg she kept in her pouch then back to her.

She took the hint and her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she zoned out of reality and withdrew into her own mind. She knew it was a possibility, however unlikely it may seem, after their brief encounter in the tub. She knew the cause of this situation, and she knew the reason behind it.

She was pregnant.

…

And the father was…

* * *

Malcolm and Ebony were called into the examination room by Nurse Joice. Once they were close to the threshold to the room, the silver vixen liberated herself from her trainer's jacket and rushed into the room to check on her sister.

The nurse bade Malcolm to take a seat next to the bed Ivory was on and began going over the results of the Ivory's tests. The meal plan he had developed to counter their malnourishment they obtained while in Jackie's care was wildly successful, and the recent jogging and battling was doing a decent job of keeping them fit. Her bloodwork was well within normal parameters for an Espeon of her age and size, baring a few deviations that indicated that…

"- Also, your 'Ivory' is carrying an egg. Congratulations!" The nurse had maintained an air of professionalism, but broke character for this particular bit of news as she was beaming ear to ear in genuine happiness.

Malcolm could hardly say he was surprised. After waking up and inspecting the condition she was in a few nights ago, he knew there was little doubt that she had a bun in the oven. And with the episodes of morning sickness earlier, the last of doubts were diminished.

He looked over to Ivory, who seemed to be in shock from the news. She had wide, unfocused eyes that seemed to be staring off into space and her mouth was slightly agape. Ebony was waving a paw in front of her sister's face to get her to focus, to no avail, and a posse of Chansey and Blissey was cooing at her in soothing tones.

The Happiny line was notorious for having some of the strongest maternal instincts in the Pokémon world. Motherhood was considered a prestigious event for damn-near all species of Pokémon, but few more so than a Center-working Chansey.

Nurse Joice also noticed the Espeon's expression. "Based on her thousand-yard stare, I'm guessing this is her first child?" She looked to Malcolm, who nodded his head slightly while continuing to stare at his companions.

"Yeah, as far as I know, anyway." He turned to look at the nurse. "I was kind of anticipating this after Ivory's heat 'ended,' but I've never taken care of an egg before. My trainer classes never covered-"

Joice abruptly put down her clipboard and clapped her hands together once with a grin on her face. "Great! I'll go get some dossiers about Eevee egg formation and laying and be right back. You guys makes yourselves at home, I shouldn't be gone too long." The nurse brought her attention to Ivory, or more specifically the hoard of her coworkers that were swarming the poor thing. "And you lot get back to work! I know you're excited about meeting a newborn, but smothering its mother isn't going to help anyone, especially all the other patients we have! Chop-chop!"

The Chansey and Blissey released a collective "Awwww" and began following after their supervisor with their feet dragging. When the last Blissey shuffled past the door, she closed the door behind her, giving Ivory one last lingering, and longing, look.

With their personal space restored, Malcolm reached over to the examination bed that his Pokémon were on and scooped up the expecting mother to bring her to his lap for comfort. He also extended an arm so her sister could climb up to his shoulders to be nearby.

The distant stare Ivory held was broken after a few minutes on her unknowing mate's lap. She turned her body around slightly so she could bury her face in his chest, letting his scent sooth her shaken nerves. This brought Malcolm to wrap his arms around the feline in an embrace, much to her gratitude. Ever since the news was broke to her, a mix of fear, joy, anger, relief, and guilt settled in her heart, and his just being there calmed her down immensely.

True to her word, Joice was back not long after she left and reclaimed her seat with a folder full of documents in tow. Her eyes flashed down to the embrace that the Espeon and her trainer were sharing, but made no comments about it as she brought her eyes up to Malcolm's just as quickly.

"Since you told me that neither of you have raised an Eevee kit before, I figured you both could use a bit of a heads up, so you aren't hit with any unexpected events." She said, holding up the folder for her patient to take.

Malcolm nodded and carefully reached over and took the offered paperwork from the nurse, mindful of Ebony's presence on his shoulder. When he opened the folder, both he and Ebony were hit with a healthy stack of papers that were filled with information on caring for an Espeon mother and her offspring.

The nurse brought her hand to her mouth to mask her giggling at the pairs bulging eyes. "By that expression, I'd guess you'd like summarized version."

They nodded. Even Ivory, though she kept her muzzle buried under Malcolm's jacket.

"Alright, for starters, the food that you've been giving them is working quite well, so keep that up. Just bear in mind that she'll-" She nodded her head at the lavender-furred feline. "-be eating for two now. She is building an egg inside of her from scratch after all.

"An Eevee egg is fully gestated after about two weeks or so. If it's late or early by a day or two, don't worry too much, every case is different. When Ivory goes into labor, (trust me, you'll know when it happens) the fact that she's passing an egg and not a full term kit means she'll have an easier time of it. This means it'll start and stop pretty quickly, so be ready when she's at term. Remember; don't let her birth the egg on anything that isn't easily cleaned. That said; I'd have some warm towels or blankets on stand-by for her comfort.

"When the egg is fully out, care of said egg will likely be out of your control. A good amount of different species of Pokémon are highly involved in the raising and, more importantly, protection of their children. Since Ivory wants to keep her egg, her protective maternal instincts will be sent into overdrive. The only creatures that she'll permit near her egg is herself, obviously, the father, and her other offspring. Not even you or her sister there will be allowed to hold the egg. The only thing you need to worry about is keeping Ivory fed and helping her feel like her home is secured. Leave the incubation to her. You'll also be given an artificial incubator to do the job for her if she becomes unavailable.

"An Eevee only needs another week to hatch from the egg. Again, it's a give or take on the exact time. By this point, the mom will be more willing to let you near the kit, but it's recommended that you let it approach you in front of her before anything else. Feeding will be on mom. If she can't nurse, I've written several recommended brands and mixes for a growing Eevee you can buy at a store on the back of page 18." She pointed at the stack that Malcolm was flipping threw for added emphasis.

"If she does do the feeding, she'll instinctually know when to wean. When she does, she'll start entrusting that part of the child's care to you since you were the one providing for her.

"Eevee are a fairly standard experience in terms of caretaking. And, as much as I hate to equate a Pokémon to an animal, but think of it as if you were raising an extremely intelligent dog.

"A typical Eevee kit, at around two months old, will grow increasingly curious about its surroundings and start wandering off. When you notice this, it means it's ready to branch off on its own and explore. Most Pokémon with branched evolution do this to get a feel for what they want to evolve into when the time comes.

"Unless you plan on exploring or going on a journey of your own, you should either release the Eevee in a relatively safe area with an abundance of food in the wild, or give 'em to a trainer who does travel. Keeping an Eevee locked in a small environment and little deviation with no chance to explore can be very stagnating to its devolvement."

After a brief moment in thought, Nurse Joice took a deep breath to refill her lungs after her lecture. She brought her attention back to her patients to assess their attentiveness. Malcolm had been trying to read along with her in the documents, nodding along intently with each detail. Ebony was spaced out and drooling out of her mouth, and Ivory fell asleep on her trainer's lap.

" _One out of three. Good enough…"_ She thought with a deadpan expression. "So… do any of you have any questions?"

Ebony shook her head to snap out of her daze and refocus on the conversation and Malcolm gently nudged Ivory awake when she softly snored in her sleep. He looked up from the folder's contents to the nurse's unenthused face. " _That's_ the cliff-notes version?!" He exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

Joice shrugged her shoulders with a coy smirk, twirling a finger around a loose strand of hair next to her face. "Hey, there are 42 pages stuffed into that thing!" She gestured to the folder she gave him. Her eyes widened suddenly.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Since this is Ivory's first time, she likely didn't imprint on her partner, but if she ever does, make sure you catch him to keep him near her if he's wild." Malcolm cocked an eyebrow and even Ivory turned her head in hesitant interest.

"What do you mean by 'imprinting on her partner,' and why do I need to catch the guy?" He could feel Ivory nod her head in agreement, now far more invested in the conversation.

The PN (Pokémon Nurse) put on her neutral expression. "Do you know about the anatomical basics of human procreation?" Malcolm nodded and the sisters shook their heads, Ivory especially, so she continued. "Generally speaking, a male is capable of producing sperm until he dies. A human woman, however, has a set amount of eggs from birth that her body can use to produce children. Once that set amount is achieved, that's it, no more babies for her.

"Now apply that knowledge to the basics of Pokémon breeding. There are some species of Pokémon that can only produce a female one-eighth of the time. And since the species of Pokémon that hatches from an egg is determined by the _mother_ …" She trailed off.

All three of her clients remained silent and tilted their heads expectantly.

Joice groaned. "It _means_ that her bloodline can only be truly ensured when she successfully hatches a daughter. There will only be so many chances to accomplish this until she… uh… 'runs dry.'" She held up her hands to use air quotes. "Every Estrus cycle that she doesn't conceive, her body considers it to be a waste of a precious resource. So the beautiful process of evolution as a species has granted her, and other species at a similar statistical and genetic disadvantage, a means to counter this.

"Imprinting is a mutually beneficial arrangement between the mother of a species that is unlikely to produce more females and the father. The mother who is imprinting on a subject will have several requirements that the male must meet to even be considered as a permanent partner. Being a male (obviously), being able to provide for and protect her and their children, being a… satisfactory partner, general compatibility, and, most importantly, loyalty are all the more common of requirements. But some are pickier than others." She counted along with her fingers as she rattled off criteria.

"If a male that catches her fancy and can meet these prerequisites, the female undergoes a subconscious process where she devotes traits of her desired mate's physiology to memory and begins associating them with positive sensations.

"The sight of him will make her feel safe. His touch will be invigorating. Even his scent will breed a sense of calm and comfort…" She trailed off again in thought. The sight of the Espeon burying her nose into her trainer's chest did not elude her, but it wasn't her place to question such occurrences.

The nurse shook her head to get back on track and resumed her lecture. "In short, she will imprint on a partner to endear herself to her mate. It's basically the Pokémon equivalent of marriage."

Malcolm finally spoke up. "So they imprint to ensure mutual loyalty to a compatible and competent mate?" For some odd reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that Joice was telling him this for another reason other than the husbandry of his Pokémon.

The woman was hesitant at first, as if in thought yet again. "Well… yes. But there is a biological reason to this process. Those loving sensations I mentioned earlier? I'll spare you the biological mumbo jumbo about neurotransmitters, but the more she experiences these sensations, or the more time she spends with her new life-mate, the more ova her body is willing to risk each time her heat rolls around."

He was finally putting the pieces together. "So what you're saying is; in exchange for making herself emotionally dependent on a trustworthy male, a Pokémon increases the odds of being able to propagate her species and the male gets on adoring and loyal mate and big litters?"

Joice nodded with a small smile. "Bingo! That's about the long and short of it." She looked to some random point in the room while she silently went through a mental checklist. "I think that about covers the lecture for today. Did anyone have any other questions they wanted to ask before I get you lot discharged?"

All three of them shook their heads vigorously. They had all had enough exposition for one day. The nurse clicked her tongue and checked off something on her clipboard and gave Ivory's Luxury Ball back to its rightful owner, as well as a small machine, a CD pouch with only one disk inside, and the promised incubator that she retrieved from a closet at the end of the hall.

She pointed to the unknown machine, but Malcolm already had an idea of what it was. "It's a TM Machine. I also gave you a TM29. It's Psychic; I've read that Pokémon that know Psychic have an easier time with raising their young. Dark-types excluded, of course."

* * *

The woman had Malcolm sigh a few more papers to have them release Ivory back to his care. Meanwhile, a few Chansey had taken the opportunity to abduct the mother-to-be and 'escort' her to their car. Cheering her on all the while, not that Ivory paid much attention to them.

The ride home was uneventful, but it gave Ivory the opportunity to reflect. Malcolm was driving them home, and Ebony was cuddling with her in the passenger seat to provide comfort. The human nurse's teachings were still echoing in her head.

Those pleasant sensations she felt for him these past few days… His gentle caress during her bath… Those fuzzy memories of the 'attention' she gave to her mate in the final moments of her heat…

She imprinted on him.

For some reason or another, when her instincts got the better of her, they imprinted him into her psyche. She knew it was permanent; she could never undo what had been done. She was his now, in a way she couldn't yet fully comprehend.

Not that it was a bad thing, she just wished it could have been something for them both to experience and enjoy. Instead, her latent revelation and subsequent fears of interdependence, no matter how irrational, were overshadowing even her worries of her impending motherhood.

Her protective older sister was snuggled against her and the man she has come to love, even if it wasn't reciprocated, was well within arm's reach, yet she has never felt so alone, so unsure…

…

She wished there was just one person who had an idea of what she was going through.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I've been throwing around the idea of starting another story, a Mystery Dungeon story to be specific. This way, I won't burn out on only having Ebony and Ivory to work on. (That, and to have another excuse for my extended absences.)

I am looking forward to getting a start on my next project, but seeing it through will mean I have even more work to do… Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Overexposure

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

 ***Lemon***

Ivory found herself back in Malcolm's bedroom. A homey orange light suffused the room as the setting sun permeated the blinds on the windows. She was on her back lying in the bed, nestled in the crook between Malcolm's chest and his arm on her other side. Her head was resting on his shoulder while she listened to her human's heartbeat.

A glance to the top of the dresser on the opposite side of the room revealed the incubator given to them by that nurse at the Center. A single brown egg with a white top about two to three times the size of Malcolm's fist was inside of it. Normally, she would be incubating the egg herself, but the activities she was about to partake in would make putting it in a safe place necessary.

Malcolm noticed his Espeon gazing at their unhatched offspring. He placed a gentle kiss on her ear to bring her focus back to him. When she returned her gaze to her mate's face, she was met with a look of pure adoration and his mouth curled in a warm smile.

He slowly brought his head down towards her, his eyes closed and mouth slightly agape. Ivory mimicked his actions and was promptly rewarded with his soft lips being placed over her open maw. Their different size and anatomy made such a delicate action tricky. The end result was almost always a messy chin and lips, but the act itself was always passionate enough to make up for it.

Ivory's smaller mouth and tongue tended to give Malcolm the advantage in terms of oral dominance. And she was just fine with that. She could feel her lover's smooth, wet organ filling her mouth as they traded saliva, all the while her own tongue wrapping around his own in a loving caress. He would occasionally snag against one of her fangs, and every time she would lap at the bit that got caught as he continued to explore her maw.

After an all too brief time, they separated; a small string of saliva connected them until gravity asserted itself against it and caused it to fall on Ivory's chest. Malcolm wiped his mouth clean with his forearm that wasn't cradling the Espeon before doing her the same courtesy with his thumb. She gave his finger a lick as he pulled away and looked him longingly in the eye.

Malcolm's amorous look never left his face as he drew his attention away from Ivory's face to drink in the rest of her body. Noticing his shift in attention, she subconsciously maneuvered her legs away from her center to give him full access.

His wondering eyes stopped at her belly. With the egg out of her womb, her body began to produce milk. Eight small, black nubs were poking out of her bright pink fur as the flesh beneath them swelled with nutritious milk.

He snapped his gaze back to the anxious Pokémon under him as he brought his free hand to her stomach. Her eyes were captured by the look of pure affection he was giving her and she couldn't look away, but she did feel his large hands wandering around her midsection and gasped.

Dexterous fingers encircled one of her teats and began to massage the sensitive flesh, all the while Ivory squirmed in a mix of joy and pain. Her breasts were sensitive. The egg was close to hatching and her body was ready to tend to the kit's hunger. The pain she felt was satisfying though. It gave her a sense of fulfillment, irrefutable proof that she could take care of her young in such an intimate capacity, and she loved every bit of it.

Her tiny gasps and squirming did not go unnoticed. "They're getting tenderer, eh love?" Malcolm whispered softly in her ears, never stopping his ministrations with his hand. When she nodded absently, he continued in a more predatory voice that sent a shiver down her spine. "Then how about I _relieve_ them of the pressure?"

She didn't get the chance to respond as Malcolm ceased all contact with her, only to drag her up the bed so the upper half of her body was propped against the pillow. Once she was in place, her breath was taken from her at the sight of her beloved mate looming over her body with a look of hunger while he stared at her numerous mounds. A smug grin pulled at his lips as he swiftly brought his mouth down to take the first of her teats into his mouth and sucked hard.

Ivory couldn't help but arch her back at the beautiful pleasure that flooded her nerves as she felt the milky pressure leaving her nip to flood into her mate's hungry chops. Nature rewarded her efforts at letting her family nurse from her by drowning her brain in Dopamine and giving her a sense of maternal fulfilment.

Her paws instinctively wrapped around his head to cradle him to her soft belly while she cooed for him to drink up, but cautioned him to save some for their child in case they hatched soon.

Suddenly, she felt one of Malcom's fingers pressing against her exposed clit, causing her to relinquish her grip on his scalp and relax her body to let him have his way with her. With his head free and mouth full, Malcolm pulled his face away from his Sun Pokémon and tilted his head back to make his neck taut and swallowed the milk he drank.

*Gulp*

She could hear his throat closing to bring the milk to his stomach and saw the salacious sight of his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed the intimate beverage. He immediately went back to her mammaries and swiftly plunged his finger into her womanhood to the second knuckle. All of the arousing stimulation caused her eyes to roll to the back of her head as her lower legs began shaking.

A delightful climax was building in her loins as she felt Malcolm curling his finger from within her womanhood to stroke her sopping pussy. As time passed, her walls began to quiver, indicating her impending finish.

Feeling that the end was near for her, Malcolm popped off of his fourth teat he was suckling and quickly swallowed his harvest. Without ceasing his movements in her sex, the human brought his mouth up to her head to whisper directly into her ear. "Go ahead, love. Cum as much as you want. I'm not going anywhere." He punctuated his lurid desire with a slow lick to her inner ear, cause Ivory to in-turn release a guttural moan while her vagina gave Malcolm's finger a particularly strong squeeze.

His free hand pushed her face so that she was looking at the incubator on the dresser, or, more specifically, the contents of said incubator. "That's _ours_ , my love." He spoke softly, but grew more lascivious as he went on. "You did such a good job of bearing my kit, Ivory. And I, for one, can't _wait_ to put even more into you for your next heat, darling."

Total satisfaction was just around the corner as Ivory stared at her child while her imagination swam with vivid pictures of the possibilities for the next time they bred. Her climax was a hair's breadth away until everything came to a complete stop as she watched a crack form on the egg.

A few more cracks mired the surface of the brown egg. Suddenly, a few sections began to fall away as the egg started rocking back and forth aggressively.

Seconds ticked by like years as both Ivory and Malcolm sat motionless in anticipation for the arrival.

A tiny brown snout poked through one of the holes in the egg's shell and parted slightly.

"Moooom?!"

 ***Safe***

* * *

Ivory's eyes shot open in an instant. She was lying alone on Malcolm's bed, and the incubator was dormant on the dresser. Another voice called out to remind her that she wasn't the only one in the room, however.

"C'mon mom, Malcolm made breakfast we've been waiting for you."

The Espeon peered over the edge of the mattress. Her gaze was met with a large pair of deep blue eyes within the sockets of a little Eevee kit. Her kit.

Malcolm had taken to calling him 'Junior' as a placeholder until he was given to another trainer. The boy's mother found the nickname to be rather endearing, so she let the nickname stick.

The fact that Junior refers to her human by his name and not 'father' stung her a little each time he did it. But she wouldn't dare correct him for just one reason: Ebony.

She would be the first to admit it, but Ivory's behavior during her pregnancy roused no small amount of suspicion. While she grew Junior's egg in her body, she was fine. Her appetite skyrocketed and she was a bit cuddlier with just about everybody, but that could be blamed on the hormones. Her real problems began when she got the egg out.

Ebony and Malcolm had heeded the nurse's warnings about her being territorial with the egg and kept their distance from her unless absolutely necessary. The first couple of days were fine. After that, however, Ivory grew more and more agitated that _her_ Malcolm wasn't interacting with _their_ egg more, so she began forcing the egg on him to take care of it while she went to the bathroom or just get some fresh air.

When she came back, she was gladdened by the human's gentleness while cradling the egg to his body, but Ebony also being in such a close vicinity to her child set her off. She psychically lifter her older sister and pointedly placed her a more acceptable distance away from them. It was such an instinctual response that she didn't even register that she did it at first. Afterwards, she apologized to her sister and Ebony forgave her, but the vixen did feel a bit put off that Ivory was more accepting of Malcolm warming the egg instead of her own sister.

The real nail in the coffin was when Junior hatched. All three of them were binge watching old sitcoms with the egg nestled between its parents. Ivory suddenly felt the egg shaking violently and heard the cracks forming. She took a seat in front of the egg to await meeting her firstborn kit. Malcolm shot up from his spot on the couch and sat next to Ebony on her chair to let the newborn imprint on his mother in peace.

The kit's thrashing from within the egg allowed him to pop the egg in half, with the top half still sitting on top of his head like a hat. Ivory fell in love again at first sight the instant their eyes met. A small bundle of brown and cream-colored fur with big, beautiful, blue eyes gazed at her in wonder. Then understanding. Then joy, as Ivory used her Psychic to lift her son out of the egg shell and brought him up to her muzzle for them both to embrace each other.

Once she had her fill, Ivory turned to invite her family to join her in greeting the infant into the world. Malcolm was on him in an instant, and when he lifted Junior up to meet his aunt, said aunt immediately noticed a similarity between the two.

Their eyes. They had the exact same eyes. And the longer that she was around the both of them, the more she noticed that Junior had a good amount of Malcolm's scent on him than what she would have expected.

A little over a month passed and Ebony grew more and more suspicious of everything. The shared scent and blue eyes that Malcolm and Junior shared, as well as Ivory's behavior when dealing with Junior's egg made Ebony grow curious about what the deal was.

And Ivory really didn't need that in her life.

A yawn breached the Espeon's jaws before she straitened herself out enough to get out of bed. "I'm coming, Junior." She said, disarmingly.

Junior's fluffy tail swished back and forth rapidly as he watched his mother jump down from the bed with grace. Once she was down, he immediately started running circles around her as she walked to the door and excitedly shouted at her to hurry. "C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! He's making waffles!" He bolted for the kitchen as Ivory passed the threshold into the hallway.

Ivory watched him run off to join her caring mate and doting aunt for breakfast. No, not everything in her life was perfect…

But right now was pretty damn close.

* * *

Malcolm knew the risks of letting an excitable Eevee kit play around with something as troublesome as syrup, but that didn't stop him from making the little troublemaker happy. It was an important day for him, after all.

Waffles were Junior's favorite. It was the first official meal he was given after Ivory weened him off of her milk. And just like that, he was hooked.

Ebony ate slowly. She hated getting her snout sticky from the syrup, but her nephew's joy from enjoying his favorite food more than made up for it. Malcolm and Ivory had the advantage of using utensils. She was forbidden from battling while she was caring for a baby, but Malcolm put the Psychic TM to good use and had her practicing with it by trying to use it for things like whatever he does with his hands.

Junior… just went wild on his stack. By the time he was done, the entire front half of his muzzle was sticky from syrup. Naturally the boy finished his plate first, with Malcolm rushing through his right after so he could bathe him before the sticky substance had a chance to dry out in his fur.

He abandoned his plate to quickly scoop up Junior and carry him to the tub before the kit got the chance to rub against something. The door to the bathroom slammed shut, leaving the twins to their own devices once again.

When the sisters both finished their plates, Ivory decided to take it upon herself to levitate all of their dishes into the sink and let them rinse for a while. She made a mental note to watch Malcolm actually do dishes later on so she could help out with some of the chores. If she had the ability to help him around the house in the same capacity he could do himself, she was certain it would get him to see her in a different light.

Ebony dunked her head in a water bowl he kept out to clean her face off of any excess syrup that escaped her lips. When she was done, she noticed that she was now alone with her sister while the boys were off playing in the tub.

This was her chance to get answers.

She walked up to her sister, who was still carefully placing the last of the cups in the sink. "Sooooo, how's it going, sis?" She asked.

Ivory shrugged, still focusing on placing the last glass away. "Not bad, all things considered. Juniors the first kit I've ever raised so it's hard to tell sometimes. He seems to be doing okay, though. A little overenthusiastic at times, but he's a good boy."

Ebony nodded along for a bit without saying anything for a while. After she dictated that an appropriate amount of time had passed she continued. "It's funny you bring up the little fur ball." Ivory turned to stare at her with pointed interest. "Something's been eating me for a while now…"

They younger sibling couldn't stop her ears from twitching nervously. She released her telekinetic grip on the glass prematurely, causing a great deal of clattering as the cup forcefully landed on one of the plates. "O-oh, like what?"

The silver vixen had no response to her sister's clumsy display. "Those eyes of his sure are striking, wouldn't you say?" Ebony started calmly circling her sister. "You know, it occurs to me that you never did specify what his father is." She rubbed against Ivory as if to both comfort and intimidate her.

While her heart raced at the threat of exposure, Ivory's mind was a storm of plans and possible outcomes for how to handle this. She knew her sister well enough to know that meagerly dodging the question wouldn't satisfy her. "Well, I don't see how that's any concern of yours, sister." She hissed.

The Eevee was surprised at her sister's sudden aggression, but wouldn't be so easily deterred. A growl thundered through her chest as she went back on the offensive. "Ivory, I'm not an idiot. Juniors eyes are the same color as Malcolm's. Their scents are practically identical. I remember that nurse in the center specify that you wouldn't tolerate anyone besides the kit's father anywhere near the egg. But lo and behold! You practically forced it on the man!"

Ebony was fuming; Ivory's pregnancy had strained the still blooming relationship she was forming with their trainer because of the resentment she felt towards him. She wanted to be involved with raising the kit too. She was her sister, they always did everything together. But in just a couple of weeks, Malcolm had managed to create a wedge between them.

Or at least, that's how she felt.

Ivory flinched. She was still trying to piece together a response but came up empty. Silently, she pleaded with virtually every entity she could pray to for an escape from this conversation. Her tail began to tuck between her legs and she briskly turned to flee into the living room, but the shiny Eevee's next words would stop her in her tracks.

"Malcolm's the father, isn't he?"

Ivory couldn't bring herself to so much as turn her head, she just looked down at her front paws in defeat. Ebony took her sister's silence as confirmation.

"Damn it! I should've known that human was acting too good to be true! He took advantage of you in your heat, didn't he?!" Ebony demanded, much to Ivory's shock. She hadn't considered that her sister would go off on such a tangent.

"Why didn't you say anything, sis? I could have told someone, gone to a police Growlithe or something." Ivory was panicking for a whole new reason now. If Ebony did take this to the authorities, and they ran a DNA test on him and Junior, the results would be damning. He said that such relationships were illegal. He would get taken away, and she may never get to see him again!

"You said that there was a fire escape in that bastard's room, right?" Ebony said as she began to make for the hallway. "We can leave that way and get all of us away from that pervert!"

Ivory immediately went into action. She would do anything to have avoided this confrontation, but she would have to settle for damage control.

Ebony was quickly overtaken by her twin sister as she made her way to the bathroom to retrieve Junior. Once the two were facing each other again, Ivory used her superior agility and Psychic attack to knock her sister on her back and keep her pinned.

"Ebony," The Sun Pokémon pleaded. "you don't understand. I-"

Said Eevee cut her off. "What's to understand?! He _used_ you! How am I supposed to-"

"He didn't use me." Ivory cut in. She couldn't look her sister in the eyes anymore as her sudden burst of courage waned, but she was too deep in her explanation to stop herself. "You got it backwards. _I_ used _him_ …" Her voice trailed off into a whisper, her eyes suddenly finding the floor more interesting than watching the shock on her sister's face.

…

Ebony was practically speechless. "What?"

Ivory took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the heaviest conversation she has ever had yet. "That last day I was in heat, when we all went to Phenac with Snaps and Scarlett? I took a few lessons to learn about my new abilities as an Espeon from a Hypno. One of the things he taught me was how to use Hypnosis. I can't use the move in battle, but it will work on humans.

"When we got back, Malcolm gave me another bath to help me control the amount of pheromones trapped in my fur. While he was talking with Justy before we all came back here, Justy gave him an ointment that would help relieve me of the aching in my privates. He started _applying_ it…" She trailed off uncomfortably.

"For a moment, I was in heaven. I never felt so good in my entire life! But when he finished applying the stuff, my heat came back worse than before. My body demanded he keep going and I started to try and force him to do something he didn't agree with.

"He refused. I'm a Pokémon, he's a human. And he vehemently refused to help me with my heat. I was so angry; I even started harboring thoughts of just throwing him to the floor and riding him like an animal. I managed to reign in my desires, at least for a little bit.

"He offered to let me wander the streets for the night if I was interested in getting my heat sated, but that only made me angrier. My heat-addled mind was so strong by that point that it actually… I don't know… took me over, I guess?"

Ebony managed to snap herself out of her stupor with a look of understanding and horror on her face. "You don't mean…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought, but she felt she already know the answer.

"Remember what I said about my Hypnosis?" Ebony shakily nodded her head as her eyes widened. "Put him into a deep sleep and took care of my heat. I tried to will myself to stop, but my need was far too strong." She quickly snapped her eyes to meet Ebony's wide gray orbs. "Sister, if you're going to blame anyone for all of this, blame me. Malcolm doesn't know anything about this. I love him, so much so that my heat even made me imprint on him while I… did the deed." Tears started to flow from her eyes as she pleaded. "Please." She sobbed. "Just let me handle all this. Let me fix my own mistake."

Ivory's Psychic had worn off and Ebony got back on all fours. She looked her sister in her teary eyes while she let herself absorb all of this new information.

The silver vixen's face scrunched into a stern scowl and she moved her paw up to her sister's face. Ivory closed her eyes in anticipation of the strike she felt she deserved.

"Boop."

A soft paw pad landed on her nose with gentle force. When Ivory's eyes opened back up, Ebony spoke. "That's what you get for trying to keep secrets from big sister." She said snootily. She then spoke in a soft, but authoritative voice. "You really shouldn't keep this stuff to yourself. Don't worry; I won't spill the beans on you, so long as you understand that you keep me in the loop from now on." Her eye contact broke briefly. "I've never been in heat before, so I won't judge. Just don't make a habit out of… all that."

Ivory brought up a paw to wipe the tears from her cheeks and a small smile formed at her lips. "Thank you, Ebony." She nodded.

"I won't tell you how to form relationships, but this is something you need to come clean about. You _need_ to tell him what happened." She jerked her head in the direction of the bathroom. "And the longer you go without confessing, the harder it will be for him to forgive you."

Ivory stared at her sister as she drank in her advice. It felt… good to have someone to confide in about her shaky 'relationship'. She had been pushing Ebony away from her personal matters ever since they stepped paw into Malcolm's apartment, and she wouldn't make that mistake again.

* * *

Malcolm and a poofy Junior stepped out of the bathroom just in time to hear the doorbell ring. He already knew who it was. Ivory looked at him intently and nodded her head once. With her consent given, Malcolm grabbed the Luxury Ball he assigned to the young Eevee and recalled him. He then placed the collapsed ball in his pocket and went to answer the door.

When he opened the door, Malcolm was greeted by the sight of a familiar red-headed pre-teen sporting a purple shirt and black leather jacket. "Goooooood morning~" Scarlett sang, bringing her right hand to her brow in a mock salute. Her cocky grin still plastered on her face.

"Hey Scarlett, thanks for coming." He stepped back and held the door open, inviting her in. The door closed once she stepped through and made her way to sit on the chair next to Ebony. "So, any luck catching anything at the Poké-spots?"

Scarlett threw her head back and groaned in annoyance. "Argh, nooo. It's like I keep throwing my balls into a tornado. I couldn't even nail the broadside of a Rhyhorn, literally. A freakin' Rhyhorn! Who does that?" She began to obsessively pet the silver Eevee she was next to for comfort. "Man, I'm never gonna get a battling partner for Snaps at this rate."

Malcolm and the two other Pokémon present smirked knowingly as he made his way to the couch and snuck a hand into his pocket. "It's funny you mention that…" He chimed.

When the girl stared at him with a bewildered expression, he revealed the collapsed Luxury Ball housing Junior. Without a word, Malcolm tossed her the tiny ball, which she brought back up to maximum size and curiously released its contents.

The bright light she released took the familiar form of a fox and began to fade, revealing a male Eevee with bright blue eyes. When Junior spotted the new presence in the room, his tail wagged and he chirped a friendly "Eevee!" in greeting.

Scarlett looked to Malcolm for an explanation. "Ivory went into heat a while back and ended up pregnant. The nurse we went to see mentioned that it is important for young Eevee to explore with trainers that get out often. Which I don't"

The teenager turned to look directly at the mother in question. Ivory gave a firm nod that she entrusted the care of her firstborn child to her. (If only because she knew that Scarlett was still too young to be considered competition for Malcolm's affection.)

A high-pitched squeal permeated the room as she lunged for the Eevee kit. She brought him up to her cheek for her to nuzzle his fluffy chest while Junior laughed at her cooing.

"We've been calling him 'Junior', but you're free to name him yourself if that doesn't suit you." Malcolm went on to explain. "The only condition to this is that you make sure to take good care of him. He's like family to me and _is_ family to these two." He gestured to his own two Pokémon.

Without dropping her new Pokémon, Scarlett leaped to the couch to embrace Ivory in a surprisingly crushing hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Malcolm looked at the scene before him with a genuine smile plastered on his lips. Having the girls put into his life had been the best thing to happen to him in a long time. Maybe ever.

A sudden vibration is his pocket brought him back to reality as he fished his phone from his pocket. A new text message from the one person he would rather not be involved with right now.

Jackie.

He reluctantly opened the text and felt a lump of anxiety in his throat.

' _It's time. Meet me in Pyrite by noon tomorrow.'_

A new text message soon followed.

' _Oh, and bring those two vixens with you. We may need the extra backup. I know you kept them.'_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Penumbra

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

"There he is! Get him! I'll go for the eyes, Ivory, break his legs!" Ebony snarled as she lunged for Jackie's face the second she laid eyes on him.

"Ebony, noooo… Bad girl, don't kill the poor bastard…" Malcolm sauntered into the room at a purposefully slow pace. His tone gave no inclination of concern for his fellow human's wellbeing. Ivory just walked in at her trainer's side.

When Malcolm got Jackie's messages yesterday, he bid Scarlett and her newest Pokémon a good day and asked for a word with his twin Eevees. He explained the situation with Jackie's messages and asked if they were willing to accompany him. Jackie told him to bring both, but he could only _assume_ Malcolm kept the both of them.

Shockingly, it didn't take a lot to convince them. Ebony's constant growling whenever Jackie's name was said gave her intensions away, while Ivory just wanted to keep close to him. He was ignorant that her desire to do so was just for the sake of his protection, but he wouldn't say 'no' to her help anytime soon.

The directions sent via text led the trio to the power plant in Pyrite. Originally, Pyrite only needed one windmill to power the entire town. With the small town's advancement into a full-blown industrial city, Pyrite's energy needs exploded.

The once humble windmill was retrofitted with more modern power converters, and more mills were added overtime, but the original one still stands. That's where they were told to meet.

Jackie brought up one of his arms to protect his vital points from the crossed Eevee attacking him without a word. Ebony latched onto his arm with a powerful Bite, so powerful that she was still dangling from his arm as he moved it to his side.

Her human target was surprisingly calm about the situation. A mirthful chuckle accompanied a soft click as the sleeve covering Jackie's arm slid off, with Ebony still attached and colliding with the ground. "Well how 'bout that, Malc? Looks like you've been rubbing off on these two. Predictable to a fault." He said, condescendingly shaking his head while both Ivory and Ebony began growling/hissing at him.

"Malcolm, and why did you drag us out here, Jack-ass? Just to test our patience and catch up?" Malcolm responded with an impatient rapping of his feet.

Jackie seemed to ignore him for a moment and regarded his other guests. "So you got the normal one to evolve into an Espeon, huh? You must be undecided about what you want _this_ frisky gal to become." He gestured to the still growling Ebony standing over the arm guard. When his human partner gestured with his hand to get to the point, he continued. "I've been searching high and low for the facility that Prophet Tech's key code would give us access to, and I finally came up with a lead! Just follow me on this:

"Back when that one kid exposed the Cipher group's desert facility, the government deemed the research data too valuable to just destroy, and too dangerous to leave in the hands of just anyone. At the time –and still, for that matter- Orre government and law-enforcement budgets were feeble at best. So they came up with the grand idea of auctioning off the data to several wealthy and trustworthy businesses to do with as they please. And one of them… was Prophet." Jackie evoked a suspenseful atmosphere as he gave his history lesson.

Malcolm caught on quickly. "So you think that that code will get us into that dilapidated Shadow Pokémon factory _and_ that we will somehow be able to turn a profit from this?" He said as he quirked an eyebrow, an expression that Ivory mirrored.

Jackie just threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, as if Malcolm just described the obvious. "Well what else could we do? We can't just drop this whole thing-"

"Yes, we can!" Malcolm interrupted, but Jackie just continued as if he didn't hear a word.

"-And that's the only lead I could dig up. It's better than nothing."

Malcolm pinched the bridge of his nose while he considered everything. "Alright, I'll bite. I do owe you for giving me Ivory." He said, bending down to pet his Espeon, who eagerly leaned into it. "What's the plan?"

"Aaawww." Jackie cooed with a giggle under his breath. "'Ebony' and 'Ivory', Shoulda' known you were a sucker for matching names-"

Before Malcolm could chastise his friend's behavior, Ivory hissed. Aggressively. With her eyes and jewel resting on her forehead glowing light blue in warning.

He was unshaken, much to her chagrin. "Follow me." He turned and went up a ladder that went up to the upper platform of the windmill. "And you may want to put you precious Ebony and Ivory in their balls. Might get difficult for them to get around with four legs."

When Jackie was out of sight, Malcolm got on one knee to talk privately with his Pokémon. Once Ebony walked over to them, he whispered to avoid being overheard. "We just have to do this one job, then he and I are square. He won't have any leverage to get any of us to do anything for him anymore." He scratched the twins behind their ears. "I'll try to avoid calling you girls out at all costs, but be ready to fight just in case."

When he received two nods, Malcolm retrieved the pair of Luxury Balls from his pocket and recalled his Pokémon. Once that was done, he ascended the ladder after his human co-conspirator.

The room up the ladder was mostly uninteresting. There were a few running cogs, a hatch to perform maintenance on the turbine, and one of those old-fashioned hover-platforms. The platform was an older model; the rotor was grossly inefficient and the lateral thrusters were rusted over.

A few thoughts flew around in Malcolm's head for a moment before he started to rub his eyes in annoyance. "Jackie, please tell me _this_ isn't the key to your plan." He jabbed one finger at the derelict craft while his other hand continued to massage his tense features.

Jackie responded by hopping onto it and managing to turn it on. The slight lean that the UFO had while it was inert righted itself as it lifted a few centimeters off the metallic floor panels.

"Honestly, you make it sound like I want you to convert this thing into a hotrod or something. I already got the thing running; I just don't have any way to guide this thing. It's from the Under, and they converted this thing to require specialized disks to move it around for security reasons. In lieu of any of those, I brought you!" Jackie turned and grinned at his accomplice.

A groan sounded in Malcolm's throat as he stomped over to the rusted transport. After accessing the settings and wiring from the exposed panel on the side, he quickly managed to trick the system into believing that they had all of the disks necessary to operate it.

Now that the platform was fully functional and able to transport anyone to any of its predetermined destinations, Malcolm boarded the craft with his accomplice.

What really caught his attention was how simple it was to hack into the UFO. Despite the fact that it was a maintenance tool for Mt. Battle's arena platforms, the thing was glorified public transportation. Tampering with the coding was simple, easy even. Malcolm may have been a talented hacker, but even Jackie's rudimentary knowledge of the craft would enable him to accomplish a similar feat. The only real challenge was dealing with a couple decades of entropy.

Jackie had set their destination and the craft was quickly –if noisily- evacuating the turbine and descending down the cavern below that separated the rusted over Pyrite Colosseum from the rest of town.

The duo were completely silent while the made their way to the nexus point in the Under. Light quickly became scarce the farther they went. Fortunately, Jackie produced a pair of flashlights that could be pinned to clothing.

By the time they arrived at their final destination in the collapsed remains of the Under, they found themselves starring across the fissure in the middle of town at the abandoned buildings, rusted metal platforms, and rocky debris scattered about the area.

"So, refresh my memory." Malcolm said, not looking away from the ghost town. "Why are we in the Under? I thought that our target was in the desert research facility."

"It is. Unfortunately, a hidden desert facility doesn't exactly do much to narrow down the search vector here in Orre." Jackie turns and heads towards the Colosseum entrance with Malcolm in tow. "I'm surprised you haven't already pieced thing together already." A growl in Malcolm's throat prompted him to get to the point.

"Fifteen years ago, this Colosseum was one of the ones used to distribute Shadow Pokémon to the masses. That combined with the fact the two of the Admin for Cipher worked in this area regularly means that they would have to have a steady influx of Shadow Pokémon. And where did the first version of Cipher make Shadow Pokémon?" Jackie trailed of as he let his compatriot absorb the information.

Once Malcolm caught on, a hearty chuckle bounced off the walls of the waiting area beneath the Colosseum entrance. "Well I'll be damned. You actually did your research this time around." Malcolm shook his head. "And once we find our way there?"

"Eh" Jackie shrugged as they began descending down a staircase surrounding a busted elevator and down towards a tram shuttle. "We'll wing it. We already have the authorization to get to some of the deeper sections with our stolen codes." He said as he patted his pocket.

* * *

The tram was completely derailed but Malcolm was able to find a lever cart from a maintenance hatch. Naturally, Jackie made him push for most of the five hour journey.

Eventually, they came across the end of the tunnel, as indicated by the derailed tram car and the blasted open door in the wall. The room past the door was in a similar condition, the room had steel-silver walls and black metal flooring. It was completely barren aside from the odd fissure in the middle of the room.

The fissure looked like it was caused by an explosion but only affected the middle of the room. Sparks hissed from the live exposed wires while Malcolm and Jackie eyed the sharp shards of metal shrapnel around the gap.

"Welp, looks like we've hit a dead end!" Jackie exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "I'll look for another way in later and I'll let you know what I find."

Malcolm deadpanned in annoyance and pulled a Luxury Ball from his back pocket before tossing it while never taking his eyes off Jackie. The white light faded to reveal Ivory sitting, but attentive.

"Espeon?"

Malcolm's gaze softened as he turned to her. "Ivory, I need you to use your Psychic to safely move us to the other side of the room." He pointed her towards the gaping hole dividing the room in two. "Think you could help us out?"

"Esp!" The Sun Pokémon's eyes glowed light blue and Malcolm found himself enveloped by an aura of a similar color. Ivory maneuvered her trainer carefully across the gap and safely placed him back on the ground.

With Malcolm safely across, Ivory turned her head to regard Jackie. His expectant look faltered a bit when her originally pleasant expression morphed into a sinister grin and a shadow fell over her purple eyes. Like with Malcolm, Jackie was also enveloped in the Psychic's light, only this time he was haphazardly tossed across the room and hit the ground with a grunt.

Malcolm took a moment to savor Jackie's discomfort before raising the ball to recall his Pokémon. "Thanks girl." Ivory's expression brightened as she looked back at her trainer. The beam impacted her chest, enveloped her in light, and brought her back into the ball.

As Jackie attempted to regain his footing, Malcolm opened another door to peer into the hallway, looking for any indication of what they should be looking for.

* * *

The facility was in about the condition one would expect of an outdated, abandoned criminal laboratory that was sold by the local authorities to a third party company: stripped barren.

Having followed the crises that the building was involved in while growing up, Malcolm was filled with an ominous sense of unease, as though the atrocities that occurred in the labs left a lingering since of dread and malice in the air.

After a few minutes of wandering, the pair found themselves in the deepest level of the facility, likely the place where most of the Shadow Pokémon conversions took place. The room they were currently in was filled with advanced-looking servers and several human-sized tubes for storing Cipher's candidates for Shadows. These were better preserved than the shattered ones on the upper floors, however.

The computers and monitors in this room were also different from the rest of the scrap in the building. 'Up-to-date' didn't even begin to describe the tech that the room contained. Most of the more advanced computers that Malcolm had bypassed in his life paled in comparison to the setup he was currently presented with.

He was also shocked that this room had as much power as it did. Every other room barely had the juice to power the automated doors and life-support systems. This one even had air conditioning!

Figuring that this was as good a place to test the key code as anywhere, Malcolm motioned for Jackie to hand over the USB containing their access codes. Once he got it, Malcolm opted for starting his process at the terminal with the most amount of strange equipment attached to it; namely an odd-looking disk drive of some sort.

The soft hum of the computer operating and the tapping of keys pierced the silence in the room as Malcolm broke into the various research files stored there.

And he did not like what he found.

"Arceus above…" He muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Jackie heard his accomplices' exclamation and approached him with newfound interest. "You already find what we're looking for?" Anticipation could easily be identified in his tone. "What? Are they making more Shadow Pokémon here or something?"

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Malcolm began directing Jackie towards the notes that he was looking at. "No, but if what I've been skimming through is any indication, I almost wish that they were."

"Whaddya mean?"

Malcolm took a moment to consider how to express his concerns. "Do you remember how Wes and Michael were able to take down Cipher?"

Jackie grabbed another chair from the other side of the room to take a seat while he answered. He figured he was in for a rant. "They snagged the Shadow Pokémon that Cipher made and use their own creations against them, didn't they?"

An absent nod was Malcolm's response as he continued to browse through the computer. "Yeah and how did they do that?" Malcolm waited for a response that never came, so he continued. "They used this bulky piece of hardware attached to their arms that enabled them to steal Pokémon that were already registered to a trainer."

"Okay, but what's that got to do with all this?" Jackie gestured to the whole room as he casually swiveled in his chair.

"After the first couple of occurrences of Snags during each Cipher incident, the Snag Machines they wore made them easily identifiable. Wes and Michael were both of a high enough moral caliber that they never stole a Pokémon that wasn't converted into a Shadow so the average Joe never had to worry about their 'mons being stolen, but Cipher was virtually helpless against that sort of edge.

"Now imagine that they _did_ have a counter for Snagging. Imagine that not only could they Snag their Pokémon back, but you had no idea they could even do it in the first place; that they didn't have the gauntlets on their arms to show what they could do. _That's_ what this is."

Even Jackie seemed taken aback by the news. "Damn… So, how does Prophet plan on stealing Pokémon without Snag Machines?"

Malcolm responded by lightly patting on the drive on the side of the terminal. "When a wild Pokémon is captured, the Poké Ball they're caught in generates and electronic shield. An anti-theft field, if you will. This field –as the name implies- protects the Pokémon from being captured by another trainer.

A Snag Machine empowers a ball thrown from it to generates a micro-electromagnetic pulse that overloads the victims shielding, thus allowing the subject to be captured."

Malcolm dug out his Trainer License from his wallet and slotted it into the drive to confirm his suspicions and plugged in the USB to activate a start-up prompt. "And if I was reading all of those notes right, they've figured out how to hack into the League Database and add an undetectable virus to a desired ID number. A virus that can allow a Poké Ball belonging the 'infected' person to bypass the anti-theft shield entirely and steal whatever Pokémon they wanted."

They both watched in a combination horror and intrigue as a progress bar encompassed the monitor and quickly filled to 100%. A dainty chime sounded from the computer as the card reader ejected Malcolm's license. There were no markings on the card that indicated any success, nor were there any prompts from his phone about any changes to his account from the League.

No sooner than when Malcolm extracted the USB from the drive did they hear the muffled sound of a toilet flushing. The duo looked at each other with panicked expressions as the sound of dress shoes colliding with the floor tiles slowly approached their location.

Before they could scramble for decent cover, the hiss of an opening automated door alerted them to presence of a man dressed in a white lab coat tiredly stumbling into the room.

Everyone was still. The man looked like he was on the verge of passing out at any moment. The empty look in his teal eyes and the dark bags he had under them indicated a strong case of sleep deprivation. His long, greasy, brown hair framed his pale face and his gaunt features showed a lack of self-care. He and Malcolm locked eyes for a moment, before wordlessly adjusting his gaze to vacantly stare at Jackie.

Malcolm could hear his heart in his ears. The guy was looking at them as though they were hallucinations, and not intruders. He was silently wondering if they would actually get out of this tricky situation they found themselves in.

Naturally, Jackie just had to open his mouth.

"Can't help but notice you didn't wash your hands…" He quipped, a snarky grin plastered on his face. Malcolm just rubbed his temples and breathed deeply through his nose to try to keep the stress to a minimum.

Jackie's comment seemed to snap the newcomer out of his sleep-deprived stupor as he refocused his vision and reassessed the situation.

"You two must be the ones that used me to get into the Prophet Tech Office building several months ago!" He exclaimed.

' _I thought he looked familiar!'_ Malcolm took notice of how his hands were slowly reaching behind his back, under his coat. He responded by quickly fishing out the two Luxury Balls in his pocket and tossing out the occupants.

A silver Eevee and pink Espeon took on an aggressive stance, both growling and hissing respectively. The researcher responded by tossing out his own Poké Balls, blinding his opponents with the bright light while his Pokémon materialized on the ground next to him.

To one side, a relatively small, animated pile of purple sludge stared down Ivory with a goofy expression. To the other, a brown bunny with cream-colored tufts of fur on the tips of its ears and on its hips glowered at Ebony with hateful, black eyes.

' _A Grimer and a Buneary. Okay, we can handle this. Ivory should be able to take down that Grimer pretty quickly and then help Ebony clean up the Buneary when she's done.'_

"You two used me to break into Prophet, didn't you?!" The researcher shouted while Malcolm thought out strategies. "Because of you, I was forced to relocate to this scrap heap to work on such a menial task! They took so much from me because of what you took from them!" He eyes almost imperceptively flicked to the Buneary at his side before glaring back at Malcolm. "But I could take it all back. If I can take you two out, I can get back everything you stole from me!"

The manic researcher grew more deranged sounding the more he spoke, and Malcolm wasn't going to let him get the first move in. "Ivory, Psychic that Grimer! Don't let it get close! Ebony, Quick Attack the Buneary!"

Ebony practically disappeared from her original position while Ivory remained stationary. Her eyes glowed blue as she psychically forced the Grimer into submission. Using her telekinetic abilities, Ivory kneaded the Grimer's body like dough for a few seconds until it collapsed from the pressure.

With Ivory priority target taken down, Malcolm drew his attention to Ebony and the Buneary. Ebony had always been a prodigious fighter with her close-range attacks, but she currently found herself locked in a grapple with one of the Buneary's curling ears.

Before Malcolm could even begin to order Ivory to back up her sister, he heard a command from his opponent that he certainly wasn't expecting to hear. "Shadow Blitz!"

While Ebony was struggling to escape the grasp from one of the Buneary's ears, the other was curled against its head and extended right into the Eevee's jaw. The brutal impact created a sickening sound as Ebony yelped while her limp body was launched back at Malcolm feet.

He was stunned, and he didn't even need to glance at Ivory to know she was in a similar state. Not just that she was undoubtedly knocked out, but that it only took one hit to do it. Ebony was a great battler, but she had never been so outclassed before.

Malcolm felt a cold, numb sensation, as he brought up Ebony's Luxury Ball and recalled her to safety. That chilling feeling gave way to a seething anger as he gave his next orders to his one remaining Pokémon. "Ivory, Psychic!"

The scientist just finished recalling his Grimer as he issued his next commands. "Buneary, hop out of the way, then follow up with another Shadow Blitz!"

' _So I didn't hear that wrong, that's a Shadow move! But that would mean that that Buneary is a…'_ The low-hanging ceiling allowed the Buneary to bounce up onto the ceiling and then propel itself right at the Espeon trying to stop it with her mind.

"Ivory, Swift, now!" A flurry of energy stars were shot out from the ruby on Ivory's forehead as the Buneary rocketed right at her.

They didn't even slow the thing down.

The colliding attacks created a small smoke screen as Ivory was launched back at her trainer, badly injured, but still standing. When the dust cleared, the Buneary was standing next to its trainer again, also banged up, but stood still as a statue, that cold scowl ingrained on its face.

Malcolm had no doubts left now. That Buneary was a Shadow Pokémon.

As his mind raced trying to come up with a strategy to beat the thing, Jackie sauntered over to Malcolm's side and slipped something into his hand.

A Poké Ball! Malcolm could distinguish it by its feel alone.

When he looked to him for answers, Jackie responded. "You said that thing enabled you to Snag. I say it's worth a try."

'It's not like I have any better ideas…' Malcolm concluded. "Ivory, Swift again! And make it as wide of one as you can!"

Ivory complied without question, and the Buneary responded exactly as Malcolm anticipated. It began to hop repeatedly to evade the stars and finally launched itself at Ivory.

"Now!" Malcolm launched the ball right as the Buneary was within striking distance of Ivory.

It was a direct impact with its head.

The relentless glower on the Buneary's face finally broke into a perplexed expression as it muttered, "Bun..?" And with that, the Rabbit Pokémon was sucked into the ball by a bright red light.

The Poké Ball fell to the ground with a thud, the center button flashing red as the Buneary struggled to escape. For a moment, everything was quiet.

*Wobble*

The scientist was fuming. "But… how? How did you..?" He looked to the computers. "That's what you stole. The only one who had the authority to activate the Snag Protocol was the President of Prophet Tech himself."

*Wobble*

Malcolm and Ivory kept still and silent as they were enraptured by the sight of a trained Pokémon being captured. Both completely perplexed about the process.

*Wobble*

Jackie stayed back a ways to appraise the situation, a pleased grin adorning his lips.

*Click*

The sound of the Poké Ball completing its capture sequence snapped Malcolm out of his stupor as he rushed to retrieve his first official catch. "Ivory, I need you to use Psychic to smash every piece of technology in this room! We can't let them have this sort of power at their disposal!"

Ivory carried out her trainer's orders in an instant. The sound of groaning and scrapping metal echoed through the room as she used her power to compact every object that was worth anything in the room.

The researcher that just had his Pokémon Snagged by his own project began to backpedal to the door closest to him. The Espeon was on him in an instant as well as she used her Hypnosis to render him harmless.

With the situation contained, Malcolm dropped down to one knee next to his Espeon and enthusiastically rubbed her left ear while smothering her with praise. The blush on her cheeks was obscured by her pink fur as she leaned into her mate's touch. She was still concerned about her sister's condition, but that didn't stop her from basking in her Malcolm's proximity.

After he put away the Buneary's new ball, he retrieved Ebony's from his pocket and used one of the Revives he kept on hand to bring her back to consciousness. Ivory nuzzled her smaller, older sister in relief, with Malcolm joining in and scratching under her Everstone collar.

The sound of clapping from the other end of the room brought everyone out of their revelry. A middle-aged man with slick black hair with silver streaks running through it, wearing a gray business suit and electric-blue tie stood a few feet away from the prone body of the unconscious scientist.

To his side, a Pokémon that looked like a pale woman with green hair wearing an evening dress with a red horn through her chest stared at the trio with appraising eyes. She was also wearing an odd looking choker, but Malcolm knew that wasn't part of her typical physiology. The Gardevoir's hair also had the unique feature of being atypically styled so that it retained a similar shape to her brethren, but the middle bang was angled so that it covered her left eye.

Malcolm stood back up slowly, never taking his eyes off of the newest arrivals. Ebony and Ivory also took up defensive positions upon noticing the Gardevoir's presence.

The man's clapping died off as he let his arms fall to his sides and ran his light-blue eyes over the four of them. His neutral face betrayed neither anger nor approval. "Well, I was hoping I would be in time to prevent any major property damage, but given the circumstances, I can overlook the minor setback." The mysterious businessman spoke with a practiced, even voice.

Malcolm jumped back onto his feet and his Eeveelution twins took up a defensive stance yet again. "Alright, who are you? And what do you want?"

"Up Up Up." The man said holding up his hand to silence him. "There will be plenty of time for our Q&A later. For right now, though, if you would be so kind as to call off your Pokémon, so that we may proceed."

Malcolm scoffed and Ebony's growls grew a bit higher in volume. "You and what army?"

This was when Malcolm learned never to ask that question. The man in the suit snapped his fingers and a platoon of a dozen or so Prophet Guards barged into the room toting security batons, various Steel-type Pokémon such as Mawile and Magnemite following them into the room. "President Tobias Reacher of Prophet Technologies, at your service." The man said as he placed his hand over his chest and gave a slight bow.

Ebony and Ivory couldn't get any closer to Malcolm if they tried. The Eevee had a troubled look, while Ivory put on a brave face and glowered at the numerous opponents she was currently facing down.

Malcolm put his hands up above his head in mock-surrender while he whispered over his shoulder to where Jackie was. "Well Jackie, if you have any of your famous 'escape-by-the-seat-of-our-pants' plans of yours up your sleeve, now's the time…"

Jackie casually stepped out from behind Malcolm and took a spot next to Tobias, opposite of the Gardevoir. "Sorry, Malc. But if you want out of this one, you're gonna have to figure things out yourself."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Just realized I was approaching 5k words and I've barely reached the halfway point (maybe less) of where I wanted the chapter to end, and I'd rather not have another Chapter 3 situation. No offense to those who like long-ass chapters.

Again, sorry about the whole update frequency being about once a month, but my schedule is finally stabilizing. Plus I'm going on vacation soon, sooooo…

Anyway, King of Chains is next on the to-do list, and I'm personally looking forward to character development. Had a good amount of positive feedback after I uploaded chapter 2, so I hope I can live up to everyone's expectations. Which means I have work to do if I am to even come close.


	7. Bonus Chapter 1

Bonus Chapter 1 - Conquest

* * *

Author's Notes: Long time, no see. Bet you're surprised to see this at the start of a chapter, but I have my reasons. My schedule got crazy these last couple of months, and with all of the releases this season, (looking at you, Shadowkeep) I'll have plenty more on my plate.

That said, I've been sitting on about five thousand words for KoC for the past few weeks and another thousand for this story even longer. It'll be a while before any 'good stuff' happens in either story, but I wanted to give you guys _something_ for waiting so long. That's when this little idea popped into my head.

In short, consider this a one-shot within an overall larger story. Don't worry; the pairing certainly isn't random since they do play a major role in the grand scheme of things for E&I.

 **This chapter contains Lemons**. Lemons are the main purpose for this chapter, so if that is something you would rather avoid, it can easily be skipped and not miss out much on the story overall.

* * *

It's taken two years. Two long, grueling years, but they did it. Thanks to their two year campaign against the Cipher organization, Orre was free to grow and blossom the way it was meant to.

Actually shutting down the operation was the easy part. The real trouble was cleaning up any leftover scrap they missed. Shadow Pokémon they overlooked, stolen tech or property that needed to be returned, purifying the Shadows, repairing other damages; it all had to be handled for them to say that the second Shadow crisis was rectified.

Today had been the most rewarding one, by far. Lugia had finally been purified using the Chamber. The crowning achievement of the Pokémon HQ had managed a feat that not even the mythical Celebi could accomplish.

Mirror B and his two flunky henchmen have still evaded the authorities, but he seemed harmless enough throughout his and Michael's various encounters to be temporarily overlooked.

With the Chamber's job complete, Michael had given all of the Pokémon he liberated from Cipher and their thugs the option of sticking around the HQ or venturing off on their own. Many opted to leave to find their own way in Orre. The rest, including Lugia, choose to stay close to him, if nothing else than to be close by if there was another incident.

The one Pokémon that Michael knew would stay was his own partner, a Vaporeon named Siren. His dad acquired her while he was on a research expedition in Kalos a few years before a younger Michael got his Trainer License.

The two of them bonded with each other the instant their eyes met. Before long, Michael had a stronger connection with the young Eevee than he did with his own younger sister, Jovi.

When the second iteration of Shadow Pokémon began to surface, the crisis that the two managed to avert only allowed their connection to grow stronger, and more unified. They were about as synchronized as a human and Pokémon could be. It was likely how Siren became famous for being one of the strongest Pokémon in the whole region.

Michael had been situated on the soft bed in his room at the HQ for a few hours now, sifting through several news articles relating to Cipher on his phone. The media had all but ceased posting reports on _what_ they were doing, and transitioned to covering more of the 'how's' and 'why's.'

Hell, his name hadn't even been mentioned in the more recent ones.

He was actually okay with that. It made him feel… lighter, like the weight of an entire country wasn't on his shoulders anymore.

Literally, he took the Snag Machine off the instant he got home after showing Lugia to his new dwelling.

He sighed blissfully. "Time to get back to being a normal thirteen year-old." He sat his phone on his desk, next to Siren's Poké Ball, and sank into his cushy mattress. His eyes closed as the very last of the stress he accumulated for the past couple years drained from his limbs.

* * *

…

The hiss of his automated door alerted him to company, though the distinct sound of claws clicking across the floor also indicted that it was only Siren.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her rear up on her hind legs to manually close and lock the door for privacy. Figuring she was just as exhausted as he was, he closed his eyes and let the ambient noises of his room lull him to sleep.

Ren had been helping Lugia settle into his new den at the man-made lake the researchers at the HQ made for observing the occasional visiting Pokémon. The water was the cleanest around, and the food was in abundance, so she had spent a while there building herself a den away from home for a few years now and she wanted to be neighborly.

Having finished aiding the legendary settle in, Siren was looking forward to getting her life back on track after Cipher royally screwed everything up. And the first step of that process was lying up on that bed~

She deftly jumped onto the bed at Michael's feet and took position at the fork of his legs. He barely responded by placing a hand on the side of her head to scratch behind her ear-frills. When she felt his hand start to go limp, she made her move.

The teenage trainer was too far gone to hear the sound of his zipper being slowly undone.

He was not so out of it to not notice the cold, damp nose being pressed against his sensitive bits, however.

His eyes shot open as he bolted upright on his bed. Greeting him was a frisky Vaporeon with her whole snout hidden inside of his undone fly. "R-ren!" He lightly shouted. "Knock that off! What are you doing?!"

Her reply was muffled by his pants, but his understanding of her was good enough to grasp the gist of it. "Por, Vaporeon~" or "You, in a minute~" She trailed off of the last syllable with a low growl rumbling through her chest.

Michael was visibly surprised, not that she would notice given her current objective of filling her lungs with his scent. His first reaction was to try and shove her off him, but he knew it would be a wasted effort. He'd seen her knocking around a few legendaries with a flick of her tail, so his frail body wouldn't do anything but amuse her.

The adolescent tucked his feet under his knees and used his legs and hands to scoot up the bed a couple feet, just enough to put distance between himself and the frisky water-type. With her elegant face exposed, she displayed a look of slight amusement and annoyance.

Her features relaxed into a serene smile as she began to stalk up the bed like a predator, back to her prize. All the short while, she dragged her tail fin up the length of his leg, cooing to him that he will be fine and to let nature take its course.

Michael put his hands up to block her. "Ren, that's enough! You're acting crazy. Let's just turn in for the day, and-"

"Vapor!" She snarled. It wasn't a playful or teasing one either. This one was full of menace.

When they started snagging the Shadow Pokémon from Cipher, Siren was always quick to lay down the law for them. She was the alpha of the party. Michael issued commands in battle, but elsewhere, she was in charge of keeping them in line. This was the tone she would use when one of them got out of line.

The water-type lunged for his neck, not to threaten him, but to physically hold him down while she staked her claim. Of course the male she was interested in was one of those hard-to-get types…

Fortunately for him, this gave Michael the leverage he needed to hold the front half of her body off of him. She was undoubtedly stronger, but she would need to pin him down fully to make use of her strength.

It was a stalemate. Her; uncompromisingly determined to get what she wanted, and he; … well, he had a plethora of reasons.

Realizing that any words he used in anger or fear would only encourage the irate Vaporeon struggling in his grasp above him, he opted to try to come to reasonable understanding with her.

"Siren…" He spoke gently, though with effort as he continued to restrain her. "I don't understand, what's this about?"

His attempt at disarming the situation was met with relative success from the evolved Eevee. Her squirming gradually ceased and she began to bark out an explanation of what she wants and why she wants it.

While his ability to understand her speech was only passable, it was enough to gather a summary of what she was after. "I am owed a reward for helping to save Orre, and you're my payment."

A deep blush adorned his pale cheeks as the red-head processed her response. His mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to string together a proper explanation. "I-i… um.. t-thank you, Ren, for your, uh… straightforwardness-" He muttered shakily.

Siren, in turn, nodded back to him. With her lips curled into an alluring smirk, she began her sensual prowl back up his supine form, but was intercepted by his hands once again.

When a scowl began forming on her face, Michael continued. "-but we can't. I know you're more than eligible for… that stuff, but I'm not. Humans are slow-growers. I'm not old enough to do anything with anyone-"

Siren began to bark out a rant at him, cutting him off. "Tauros-crap! In case you've already forgotten, I just had my nose buried in those things, and, just so you know, they're fully functional! Plus, you've been pumping out enough pheromones over the last year to make a Salazzle blush! There is absolutely no reason why we can't-"

"It's illegal, Ren." He calmly interrupted. Most of what she said was lost to him, but it didn't take a genius to figure that she was arguing with him. "Humans can't give consent in America until we turn eighteen. Even if I… indulged you right now, you would be committing statutory. They'll put you down for something like that, and I won't have it." Michael finished, giving his partner pleading eyes and hoping she would consider more appropriate alternatives.

Siren sat back on her haunches with a contemplative expression on her face as she stared at nothing in particular in the corner of his room. Seeing her relax somewhat also allowed Michael to finally drop his guard.

The Vaporeon muttered a "Now what?" under her breath, prompting her trainer to begin considering everything with a level head. Michael had always considered Siren to be very pretty, and though he never tried to label her as alluring before, knowing that she sought _him_ as a mate made him reconsider that stance.

The main pillar for their bond was the Cipher incident. As they alone had faced every trial and nightmare that the Shadow Pokémon and their wicked handlers threw at them, no one in the whole region would ever be able to relate to their struggles, no one else would be able to truly say that could relate to their situations. No one, except for each other.

But what Siren was after was something that they just didn't have access to: a proper, romantic relationship between Pokémon and human. Even if he was of legal age, Michael would be the one under scrutiny for 'abusing' his Pokémon.

…But he could accept being the one penalized. For her.

He watched her for a moment longer, watching her beautiful eyes twitch around the room slightly in deep thought and lightly wet his lips with his tongue. "Siren?" He breathed, inching his head closer to hers.

Siren turned to address the boy next to her. "Vapor-" His proximity had cut her off, but Michael took advantage of her momentarily gapping mouth. Namely by placing his on top of hers.

It was his first kiss, and it showed in how clumsy it was. There was absolutely zero experience in this exchange of breath from either party, hell, one of their mouths wasn't even designed for this sort of oral caress. But Siren didn't care. She had seen countless human couples doing the same thing, even back in Kalos. She knew enough about it to know what it really was at its deepest level: a human ritual of courtship.

Siren was quick to secure her front paws on her partner's shoulders and drag him down on top of her on the bed, careful to avoid breaking their lip-lock. Michael smoothly allowed her to dictate their movements. Within moments, the human was straddling her aquatic tail, cupper her cheeks in his hands.

He could feel her muscular tail swishing back and forth and her front claws digging into his shirt. An escalating purr and a clawing on his shoulders kept encouraging him to not only continue the kiss, but to go further.

Michael backed his face away from his partner. They were both blushing, panting messes, and a string of saliva connected them momentarily before it fell onto Siren's neck frill. After a few moments of catching their breaths, Siren began using her tail and paws to bring her mate-to-be back to her embrace, but was met with some resistance. Michael winced internally at her pleading expression.

He brought one of his hands to her chest and began rubbing it to keep her placated for his next sentence. "We can't-" When a snarl began to form on her muzzle from being thrown right back to square one, Michael continued. "-not yet, at least."

Translation wasn't necessary for her rebuttal. "Will you stop jerking me around?! Are we doing it or not?!" If it wasn't for the emotionally sensitive subject they were trudging on, Michael would have found her frustrated and pouting face to be adorable.

"Ren, these feelings you have for me, you've had them for a while, right?"

She nodded.

"If I had to guess, you've had them for about a year or two, yeah?"

Another nod.

"Well…" He looked down to his hand scratching along her scaly chest, unable to meet her eyes. "…would you be willing to wait a few more?" Whatever minute movements Ren was making suddenly stopped. When Michael brought his gaze up back up to her, he was met with a Vaporeon with her mouth gaping and a disbelieving look in her eyes.

"If you can, wait until I turn 18. By your standards, I am perfectly capable of appeasing you, but human culture is complex. I don't really mind the idea all that much. Any male would be lucky to have you." He accentuated his point by lovingly rubbing her stomach, buttering her up to the idea of waiting. "But I also have to be responsible. I don't wanna give Jovi a bad example by rushing into a relationship before I'm ready, ya know?"

That really got Siren's attention. Jovi's young age and playfully curious nature gave Siren a sister-complex towards her. While she didn't like the idea of having to endure four more heats without a mate, Ren did want to set a good standard for the young girl.

The Vaporeon continued to ponder the proposition while her partner continued to rant about helping her find a "more appropriate" mate or some such nonsense. Eventually, she made her decision.

* * *

She waited. She wasn't thrilled about the fact she would need to face several breeding seasons without a mate that wouldn't be hers just yet, but she waited. Of course, she also made sure that Michael would uphold his end of the bargain by setting up a few conditions…

Humans that endeavor to promise themselves as mates before they are able to actually follow through give each other promise rings or similar things to signify that they were taken. Some Pokémon have a similar ritual, through their versions of promise rings are much less subtle and harder to lose.

Day one of their 'engagement,' Siren bit down on Michael shoulder. Hard. They had a first-aid kit nearby to prevent infection, but the Vaporeon made sure she was the one to staunch the blood flow by licking his wounds for a good while.

She would have liked for the scar to be more visible on his neck, but Michael couldn't let that rouse suspicions on their secret affair.

Though it wasn't specifically mentioned in their accord, Michael spent more time at the lake where her den was located. He always visited whenever he had the chance. They could be who they wanted to be without dealing with other people: themselves.

There were several instances when Freya, the Houndoom that Michael purified, noticed his mark while he and Siren were swimming in the lake. Though she's not proud to admit it, Siren got a big thrill out of seeing her sprint right into his face and snarl at him, casting glances at his bite scar all the while before storming off.

A jealous rival female.

The second condition that Siren decided on was something she would reveal to him after they 'got down to business,' but the third was that she wasn't interested in sharing.

Michael, for his part, maintained a relatively normal life, given that he was slated to be mated to a quadrupedal dog-fish. He – along with Jovi – resumed his home-schooling with their mother and went on to begin researching ways to bridge the gap between humans and Pokémon.

His greatest contribution to that goal prior to turning 18 was a rudimentary hearing aid that was capable of translating most of the language of several Pokémon who volunteered as test subjects. Siren, included.

Today was the day. By human standards, today was the day he was counted as an adult. Now he would be able to give consent.

Siren waited in her den all day, watching the position of the sun through its reflection on the lakes calm surface. She, in her own words, 'allowed' Michael to spend the day with his family. They would naturally want to spend the day with him as he was thrust into the world of adulthood.

Little did they know, they were celebrating the last event as a family that didn't count her among them.

The day before, he mentioned going to watch a tournament and invited her with them to watch, but she declined. The temptation would be too great. Though she did give a piece of advice. "'If there's food; eat as much as you can. You'll need the energy~'"

As she waited, Siren counted the seconds crawling by when her ear-fins picked up the footsteps of a bipedal creature approaching her. She took a more alluring posture lying on her side while she swished her tail behind her hypnotically.

Within moments of the steps coming to a halt, a piercing green eye peaks out of the entrance. "Siren? You home?" Her prey had arrived.

She didn't respond. She'd given him instructions for what he was supposed to do come sundown. Michael took a few steps in before he was able to spot his Vaporeon lying on her side in the back of her den.

A serene smile came to his lips when he laid eyes on her for the first time as a full-fledged adult. The past few years together were spent trying to get him used to seeing her in a more romantic light. No longer would she simply be his friend and partner; now, she would be his lover, his mate.

When he turned fifteen, they started bathing together. While they bathed, they took the opportunity to explore each other's bodies. These explorations allowed Michael to assess Siren subjectively as a female rather than just a Pokémon. Siren just used the time to feel him up and enjoy the eye candy.

The young man crouched down to bring himself to eye level with the Bubble Jet Pokémon. As he moved in for a gentle kiss on her lips, she intercepted by placing a paw on his.

When he looked to her for an explanation, she responded with a single bark; an order translated courtesy of the device he strapped to his ear. "Strip."

The context for this encounter had been building up for upwards of seven years now, so he didn't need clarification. His pale cheeks gained a deep, rosy hue as he stood back up.

Siren quietly watched as he mate-to-be stripped himself bare for her. She'd learnt that humans disrobe in front of another to tease and excite them. Obviously, she didn't wear clothes to begin with, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the show he gave her.

That round-faced child she had known all her young life had experienced several changes, both large and small as the years went by. His facial features grew taught and more handsome than adorable with maturity and his once wild, red hair was much more manageable, yet retained its spikiness.

When his shirt came off, it revealed his thin but toned physique, courtesy of all of his years training Pokémon and adventuring across the region. A few scars decorated his torso from accidents, misadventures, and freak incidents with a rampant Shadow Pokémon, but one in particular really drew her attention; her mark on his right shoulder.

The feast for her eyes continued farther south as his pants were the next to go. Fit and lithe as the rest of him, his lower extremities were just as appealing as the upper portions. A dark, navy blue pair of boxers separated her from her ultimate goal of the evening and her eyes were laser focused on them as he removed his shoes and socks to toss them into the pile of other discarded clothes.

She knew what those undergarments hid: a full eight inches of "all hers." So she stood up from her perch and got herself ready for an event that was more than five years in the making.

Michael had become less nervous about exposing himself to Siren over the last couple of years. When she first brought up the idea of getting accustomed to one another, he was a red, stammering mess, but was quickly surprised by how easy it was for him to relax at her exploring touch.

With his boxers cast aside like all of his other clothes, his jaw was dropped at the sight that was awaiting him when he turned back to Siren: a gorgeous, female Vaporeon with her back to him, tail flagged to her side and a puffy, pink slit starring right back at him.

As much as he had already seen of her body, Michael still shyly averted his eyes to some random corner of the small cave. Up till now, Siren had never exposed herself in such a lewd display of sheer desire.

"K-kinda quick to get into the action, aren't 'cha, Ren? I mean, we haven't even-" A relatively weak water gun silenced his complaining.

"You've had five years of foreplay, my mate." She chided. Another spurt of water blasted from her mouth was fired at his crotch at a rapidly applied lubricant. "That said, if I don't feel you mounting me in the next ten seconds, I'll turn around, knock you onto your back, and ride you nonstop until we need to celebrate your _nineteenth_ birthday!"

Michael knew she was likely speaking in hyperbole, but, knowing her, she was bound to try. He had never heard of anyone being fucked into a coma, but he wasn't eager to pioneer that field.

"Five seconds!" She shouted, bringing the human back out of his own mind. Knowing full well she'd make good on her word, he practically tackled her from behind.

Siren, believing that he was finally getting into things, let out a pleased groan upon feeling his weight fall on her back. In Pokémon culture, the strongest one in a relationship was the dominant one. With her mate being a fragile, young human, he was weaker by default. However, she craved a pure, primal embrace from her human.

They were both in position on Siren's nest; the Vaporeon crouched down with her rear raised to Michael kneeling body. _'So why isn't he in me yet!?'_ Siren screeched internally.

As if answering her, Michael leaned over the water-type's form to talk directly into her ear. "So… we're not doing any teasing, or-"

"Two seconds!"

And without another word, the young man thrust his hips forward, hilting halfway into the Bubble Jet Pokémon. Siren lurched forward slightly as her hymen was pierced with a high-pitched yelp escaping her lips.

"Sorry!" Michael rubbed her sides to help with the pain. Meanwhile, Siren's insides squeezed and pulled at his member, almost urging it deeper. The experience was pleasant, but his concern for his partner's wellbeing overrode those feelings. "The pain will pass, we can wait unill-"

Ren muttered something under her breath to cut him off, when he asked her to repeat it, she screamed: "Now. Go now!" Her tail slammed onto the ground, cracking the stone floor next to the next.

"B-but, shouldn't we wait until the- ah'!" Siren slammed her hips back to fully sheathe her mate's shaft within herself.

"Grrrrrr" The water-type was have a less pleasant experience as far as purely physical standards go, but the fantasy that had stayed her creeping lust for the last few years had been the those of the two of them engaging in a raw, feral rut.

And ruts didn't wait for the pain to fade.

Pushing through the pain, Siren rocked her hips back and forth on her new lover's crotch, urging him into action. Figuring that the least he could do for her after putting her through a five-year cock-block is concede to her desires, Michael stilled her motions by placing one hand on her flank, lying himself on her back by making her support the weight of his torso, and forcing her to turn her head to him with his free hand.

Slowly, Michael pulled his hips back, withdrawing from the clenching grasp of his mate. The decreased pace let him enjoy the velvety smooth and soft walls caressing his rod. It literally felt like he was sliding through an orifice of warm, moist silk!

Siren's eyes portrayed a lack of focus as she lost herself to the feeling of her loving human's tip gradually withdrawing from her, only to forcefully slam itself back against her cervix half a second later. He started out retreating from her snatch at a meticulous pace, only to quickly begin to transition, giving himself to the primal pleasures of the flesh in a rapid slamming of his hips to hers.

"Y-y-yessss…" She hissed. She had wanted this for _years_. She had conquered Cipher at Michael's side all those years ago. They went on to scale Mt. Battle and defeat the defender of the hundredth platform. There hasn't been a battle since that made her feel so powerful, so potent, afterwards. She had accepted that Orre held no more challenge for her. And so, Michael became her final conquest.

"Siren!" Michael sighed, relishing her quivering sex milking at his manhood. Moving both of his hands to the aquatic canine's chest, he moved both of them over to the wall closest to Siren's nest. She played along with the new position, simply enjoying the fact that her mate was taking charge.

He placed her in a standing position against the wall, using his one of his forearms as a buffer between the Vaporeon's soft underbelly and the jagged rocks. Siren mewled in relief from a combination of the pain finally finishing subsiding, her hind legs no longer bearing the weight of a grown human, and the rapid approach of an orgasm five years in the making.

"Ah- Michael, I'm- I'm-" Michael couldn't bring himself to reply verbally, so he acknowledged her by moving his free hand down one of her forelegs and grasped her paw.

Knowing that Siren's pleasure was about to reach its apex, Michael slammed himself into his Eeveelution without restraint, rushing to catch up to her. "Vapor, por poreon~!" Whatever Siren was whimpering out, it completely confused the prototype translator Michael was experimenting with.

With his end in reach, the young man returned the mark the water-type bestowed on him all those years ago. A feral growl was loosed in his throat as he bit down hard on Siren's smooth, scaled hide just under her neck-frill. He would never be able to pierce her skin, even if his life depended on it, but boy did she feel it.

"Vapoooooor~!" The velvety walls of Siren's sex belied the sheer wringing strength she exuded on him when she reached climax. A new warmth spread through her body while raw satisfaction flooded her senses.

Simultaneously, Michael felt his loins tense for just a moment before he relieved himself of his seed into the eager Vaporeon's love tunnel. However, said Vaporeon's mating instincts assured him that he, in fact, had no say in _where_ he was allowed to release. The bulky, fin-tipped tail which had previously been inert during their lovemaking, snapped against his hips and back, holding him there. Though he didn't bother with trying to strain against her strength, Michael couldn't help but chuckle internally. ' _Even when she wants me to be in charge, she has full control.'_

Once they were done covering each other in their juices (and Siren's tail permitting movement again) Michael pulled out of his new mate and slumped down on her nest to catch his breath. The long, exciting day that was his eighteenth birthday and the activities he just participated in had taken the last of his energy. He closed his eyes as his fatigue was rapidly catching up with him.

When he felt the sweat-covered body of his partner climb over his body, Michael assumed Siren was looking to enjoy an extra-loving cuddle now that they were officially mates.

He _assumed_.

Siren began rubbing her still-oozing sex against her trainer's flaccid cock to coax him back to attention. His eyes shot open to reveal that his Vaporeon was indeed standing over him, the light from the glowing crescent moon reflecting over the clear lake beneath it gave her snide grin an ominous look.

"You did a good job for your first time, sweetie~" Every one of her words were laced with a domineering growl. "And that bite there at the end? Mmm, that was good~"

Beneath her, Michael was panting with exhaustion and each grind against his slowly hardening member earned a matching groan from the sensitivity. "Siren, I'm glad that you're enjoying, well – me, but can't we at least take a break?"

The Vaporeon put on a faux-sympathetic face. "Awwww, sorry my mate, I can't do that~" The sneer came back. "I'm afraid we have a whole five years of catching up to do." She savored the look of mixed fear and excitement that appeared in his features. "Oh don't look so concerned, love. If it helps settle your thoughts, by my calculations, if we go six rounds every night for the next year, we should be all caught up~"

"B-but-" Michael tried again to reason with her to let him rest.

"You can pass out if you want to, my mate, but I'll keep riding you until I get," She moved down to whisper directly into the ear with the translator. "Every. Last. Drop." Finally, she brought him back to full mast and didn't waste a second in reinserting him back into her snatch.

The young human was able to retain his consciousness for a few minutes before his eyelids grew heavy again. Even the rough slams Siren delivered to his hips couldn't help keep him awake anymore.

Darkness encompassed him. And every sound he heard (mostly Siren's loins slamming down on his) sounded like he was underwater, but the next few sentences he heard were loud and clear.

"I almost forgot! I haven't told you that third condition~" He faintly felt her nip, pull and lick at his ear teasingly. "Just like your body and heart, your bloodline is _mine_!" She hissed against his ear. "You will attend to my _every_ heat. If I _want_ eggs, I will _get_ eggs. _You're_ eggs!" Another howl pierced the air as she climaxed. He wasn't even sure if he came with her or not.

"You are MINE!"

* * *

Several months later…

Siren was relaxing in her den to enjoy the pleasant summer day, reflecting back on her life thus far. She couldn't help but bring her thoughts back to Michael's dad. 'All those years ago, he caught me as a gift for Michael to celebrate his getting his trainer's license. How would he react to knowing that the female Eevee he brought with him would eventually become his son's mate?'

The Vaporeon looked back towards her stomach, or more specifically, the pair of brown eggs resting against her belly. Her eggs. _Their_ eggs. _'Human's don't like when one of their own mate with Pokémon. For his safety, and our children, they can never learn who their father is…'_ She looked back out of the mouth of her small cave, a feeling of melancholy hanging over her. _'What a sad state of affairs.'_

For several hours, Siren remained lost in her own head. She almost missed the sound of an egg cracking open. When she snapped her head back towards the eggs at her side, she was greeted by the sight of a small, silver muzzle poking out of the shell…

* * *

Present day…

Michael was spending the day as he normally did at the Pokémon HQ; working on his translator. Siren was lounging on the table next to his computer while he worked, grooming herself. Ordinarily, she would make a show of it for her mate, but she had toned down her sexuality somewhat after they had "caught up."

After installing the latest patch he made into his newest version, he fished out one of his more recent prototypes to try and update it to until he heard an unfamiliar ping coming from his PC. For a moment, he disregarded it as spam mail until he recalled the chime's purpose.

Immediately after the last of Cipher's cronies got thrown in jail, Michael planted a few bugs and partitions into the more… nefarious notes and plans into their computers. He had heard that the government was interested in using the research to further studies on Pokémon and had even devised a plan on making a profit from it as well. Some would view this as a shameless money-grab, but Michael understood the merits of the plan. The money could be used to prevent an abomination like Cipher and Shadow Pokémon from happening again, and it would be a waste to simply delete the data their experiments produced.

That knowledge didn't keep him from making sure that he could meddle if there were less noble plans for that info.

He brought up a tab to see what packets of information had been breached and was flabbergasted at the results.

' _Al of them! Somehow, they managed to bypass all of the defenses I placed and kept my computer from receiving the notification that they had!'_ Michael started tapping his heel against the floor in an anxious tick. _'But why am I getting the signal now?'_

He brought up some security feed from the cameras planted along the facility in the desert. "Siren," He called, interrupting the Vaporeon's tongue bath. "We have to go. We have to go, now!"

Michael grabbed his translator, the prototype he was about to update, the keys to the hover bike he got from his eighteenth birthday, and Siren's Poké Ball as he tore out of the front door of the HQ, leaving several fellow faculty members in his wake as he and his partner raced to the Hidden Dessert Facility.

The feed from the camera showed a young man ordering an Espeon to psychically crush all of the computers in the room, and a man in a lab coat starring at him in wild disbelief...


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Umbra

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

This was bad. This was really, really bad! Ivory wished she could say that they've gotten out of worse spots, but the closest equivalent was when Malcolm persuaded one lone human to let him keep both of them.

Deep, purple eyes darted across the room, searching of any openings to get her family to safety.

 _'My... aren't we the interesting one...'_ A feminine voice cooed in Ivory's head.

She didn't need to be an expert in her psychic abilities to know that it was bad news to hear a voice other than her own in her head before a fight broke out. Ivory scanned the room to determine who was speaking to her without drawing any attention to herself. She didn't want her mate and sister to lose focus.

As her eyes landed on the Gardevoir across the room, said Pokémon's lips tilted upward in a delicate smile. _'You can speak back to me, you know?'_ The Gardevoir said. _'I bear you no ill will, and these humans just keep prattling on…'_

Testing the waters, Ivory actually responded. _'Why do you want to talk to me for though?'_

' _While your and my 'masters' prattled on, I decided to go around snooping through everyone else's thoughts. Lo and behold, you, a fellow psychic, had absolutely no defenses put up to protect yourself from intrusions. Figuring you were new at being an Espeon, I perused some of your memories and emotions to see what you knew.'_

The feline's heart rate skyrocketed, and she struggled to not show any visible signs of distress. ' _A-and...'_

 _'I don't blame you for not telling him yet. That sort of topic is difficult to broach, especially when you can't bring it up or defend yourself verbally.'_

 _'What do you want?'_ She asked, curtly, fully aware of what the Embrace Pokémon was implying.

 _'I don't want anything, honest. I'm not judging you for your choices. I've been through heats too, I know how much your reasoning and desire clash.'_

Ivory stayed silent for a moment. She was grateful that someone other than her sister at least partially understood her. It made her feel like the world wasn't as out to get her as she had once thought.

The Gardevoir's thoughts chimed into her head yet again. _'Listen, what if I said that I could give you that chance with him? It'll probably be a rough ordeal, and it will entail doing things you may find… undesirable, but I really think I can help in the long run, if you just hear me out.'_

The Sun Pokémon's calm facade wavered and crumbled. She was now staring straight at her fellow psychic-type with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. Ivory would do anything for Malcolm, she loved him. But, she would do so much more to be able to express it.

* * *

Malcolm stood in shock as he assessed the new twist in the situation. Caught with stolen experimental tech (and Pokémon), surrounded by security of the people who owned the things he stole, and to top it all off, his own partner was standing _with_ those people.

He noted that when Jackie moved to stand beside the president, no one reacted. The guards were perfectly calm and the Gardevoir almost looked like she was expecting him to side with them. Wichita means Jackie didn't just betray him, he had set him up from the very beginning.

When Malcolm realized this, rage began to eat away at his typical, calm exterior. "You...!" He was too furious to even properly voice his outrage.

Jackie responded by looking around with a questioning expression before looking back with an innocent look and pointing at himself.

"How long, Jack-ass? How long have you been planning on throwing me under the bus?" His fists balled as he tried to reign in his emotions.

The traitor dropped his facade, replacing it with his signature, cocky grin. "Oh... for a while." He drawled. Tobias and the Gardevoir both rolled their eyes and sighed at the impending monologue.

"Honestly, Malc, I'm surprised you never figured me out before we got to this point." He started wagging his finger at his former accomplice. "You're really not as smart as you think you are, bud."

Malcolm was stuck; surrounded by armed guards, and possible shadow Pokémon under a hidden research facility in the middle of the desert. He honestly had no clue on how to get himself and his Pokémon out of this. The best course of action he knew to take was to stall, keep them talking and hope for an opening.

The novice trainer relaxed his stance into a more submissive, if still a bit agitated, posture with his arms crossed but hands still in plain view. "Alright, 'bud,'" Malcolm spat. "If you're done boasting, how 'bout you tell me what brought all this on? You never shut up about staying loyal to the crew and crap like that."

Jackie clicked his tongue and looked at the ceiling in thought. "Where to start?"

He began a slow pacing between Malcolm and the security team. Tobias tried to reign in his cohort before he went off on a tangent, but Malcolm knew that it was impossible to keep the man from rubbing a victory in anyone's face.

"I guess this all started about five months ago. Actually, if memory serves, you mentioned it when I dragged you back to the warehouse." He said, wagging his finger at his old partner. "You said something about some guy getting picked up by suits when a random person managed to breach their firewalls on a lucky chance?" He pointed at himself. "That was me.

"They tracked me down because I used one of the more 'archaic' methods of breaching security. I guess the kids they have running maintenance were never expecting such a primitive bypass. Honestly, I was expecting to get shot or abducted right then and there, but they came to me to offer a steady job, and trust me, the figures they offered made me totally forget about my principles in an instant."

"How 'bout that? So you _can_ put a price on loyalty, huh?" Malcolm retorted.

"Like I had much to be loyal to with you anyway!" Jackie waved off. "You were always trying to break away to do your own thing for ages, going for that 'lone-wolf' persona." His eyes flicked to the two Eevee at his feet, a smirk grew on his lips. "At least, at first."

"What's that supposed to-" Malcolm attempted to inquire, only for Tobias' hand being pointedly slapped onto Jackie's shoulder to cut him off.

"I believe I should take it from here." He jerked his head back for his loud-mouthed subordinate to back up. Turning back to Malcolm, he continued. "The long and short of it is that we had Jackie here investigate certain…" He paused in consideration. "unknown variables." When he completed his assignment, he offered us the names several men and women of the criminal variety. Most of them were either already in jail, weren't up to snuff, or simply didn't fit well with Prophet's long-term goals and principles. Then, your name came up…"

"Hate to break it to ya, Mr. President, but I doubt I'd make a good fit for your operation. I'm no saint, but I sure as hell won't put my hat in with anyone who knowingly closes the hearts of Pokémon!" Malcolm presented the Poké Ball that house the newly snagged Buneary for emphasis.

Despite the defiance he was trying to put up, Malcolm's declaration only seemed to draw out an encouraged smile from the CEO. "And _that_ , my boy, is precisely _why_ you belong in Prophet! That Buneary's transformation was a fluke, a punishment one of my managers drummed up for Doctor Bryce's shortcomings when you infiltrated our main office. I assure you, her condition is reversible."

Those last few declarations sufficiently distracted Malcolm from continuing to seek an escape route. "Wait, that raid was Jackie's idea. Why would you punish this poor bastard for Jackie's actions." He gestured to the sleeping man curling into the fetal position on the ground at his feet.

The man in question practically threw himself between his former partner and current boss, eager to present his master stroke of an idea for all of his bragging pleasure. "Because Toby here,-"

"That's 'Mr. Reacher' to you." The businessman sternly corrected.

"Toby here," He repeated, only louder. "Was still skeptical of you at first. So I had to devise a plan to demonstrate that you would hold the company's interests at heart, _and_ be able to bring something useful to the table."

"And naturally, you left all of the planning to me as well. Not just because you knew that I knew you were _that_ lazy, but so I could show them my merits." Malcolm concluded, earning a loud 'Bingo!' from Jackie. "But that still doesn't change the facts. You lot are making Shadow Pokémon! There are a lot of sick fucks that abuse them for power or wealth, but doing… doing… _this_ to a Pokémon," He held out Buneary's ball farther. "is just fucked up!"

Tobias raised both of his arms in a calming gesture. "As I've said before, the Buneary's case was an ill-thought out corrective action and I assure you, it can be undone. In fact, the betterment of Pokémon treatment is our primary goal in this venture."

"Pfft." Malcolm scoffed. "I don't believe a word of that. Before we even began to plan our heist on your office building, _that_ guy drugged and caged these two for several weeks!" He jabbed a finger at Jackie before sweeping his hand at his feet, gesturing to his partners. "They were so malnourished their ribs showed and their fur was starting to fall out! How's _that_ improving the way they're treated?"

At this, and to their credit, Tobias and the entirety of the security team glowered at the accused party. Everyone except for the Gardevoir, who had her eyes glued to Ivory's.

Malcolm attempted to use this lapse in attention to scan his surroundings. The computers that Ivory smashed were a hissing pile on the floor. The two closed doors that led into the room were blocked by personnel and likely locked. The air vents he could see were a: too high up to get to, and b: too small to squeeze through.

In summation, his goose was cooked.

' _Guess I'll have to try and bull-shit my way out of this…'_ He thought tiredly.

"They were a part of how I planned to get him to show that he's a real softie when it comes to Pokémon!" Jackie defended. "They were never in any real danger. I monitored them constantly, and if they ever would have taken a bad turn, I would have hospitalized them immediately. Scout's honor!" He put his hand over his heart in a mock-salute.

Naturally, Malcolm was skeptical. "And you had to starve them, because…?"

He shrugged. "It's easier to garner sympathy from others with a victim than a merely inconvenienced party."

Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly. "Regardless…" He focused back in on his prospective new recruit. "Fortunately for all parties involved, he is more of a contractor than an employee of Prophet. But you, my boy, are going to be a lynch pin in our operation."

"How do you figure that?" The wary hacker backed himself up against the wall as he spoke, Ebony following suit. "I'm a good black hat, but I highly doubt there isn't someone who has a more tolerable disposition to you who's just as good."

"I never said I was only after your skills with a computer."

"Wha-?" Nine times out of ten, whenever someone knew about Malcolm's proficiency with computers, that's all they'd want from him.

"Don't get me wrong, your technical abilities will be a great help, but you've just now demonstrated another skill in your repertoire. You can throw a Poké Ball."

Malcolm waited for the punchline of what he assumed was a joke. It never came. "Beg pardon?"

Without a shred of humor, the business man explained. "It was a bit of an oversight to set up shop in Orre. Yes, we needed to appropriate and experiment with Ciphers formula for making Shadow Pokémon, but overlooked a key detail in our recruitment efforts. Simply put: the people here can't throw a ball to save their souls. It's my own fault for not realizing it sooner to be honest. Orre barely has a population of wild Pokémon, it's no wonder so few here have any experience in the craft. And snagging is an even more advanced practice. A wild Pokémon only has itself to rely on, but trained ones have a partner for the double battles Orre's populous _and_ their trainers to back them up and run interference."

He took two long, confident strides towards Malcolm with an intense gaze. "But you, you not only managed to assess that the Buneary was indeed a Shadow Pokémon _and_ controlled the flow of the battle to favor snagging conditions, but also did it in so seamless a way, that it almost seemed like second nature."

Malcolm clicked his tongue, considering a hollow, if desperate, attempt at intimation. Ebony, who had been growling almost nonstop during the entire dialogue, pressed closer to her trainers leg, refusing to allow for openings to be made. "Like I care. Whatever the hell you're peddling, I ain't buying. Nothing good happens from people who willingly make Shadow Pokémon like you. Now, if you would be so kind as to-"

His rouse was cut short when he noticed the feline form of his Espeon move slowly towards Tobias. Her ears were flat against her skull, body hung low and tail practically glued against her rump. An entirely submissive gait saw her sitting right in front of Prophet's President.

"Ivory?/Vee?" Malcolm and Ebony called out to her, trying to get her attention, but she didn't even glance back. The trainer only had a brief window of time to ponder this behavior before he noticed the security team's posture showed they were on-edge. When it looked like some of the Pokémon were about to intercept her, the Gardevoir made a gesture for them to stand down.

Ivory and the Embrace Pokémon stared at each other silently for a moment. 'Are they… speaking to each other?' Malcolm guessed. 'What would they have to talk about?'

There wasn't a soul who dared make a noise or even move in the room. The only thing that showed that time hadn't simply halted were the occasional blinks everyone made.

Suddenly, Ivory nodded, and the Gardevoir's small, ever present smile brightened significantly. Tobias looked behind him for clarification from his assistant and received a very enthusiastic nod right back. He focused back onto the Sun Pokémon sitting at his feet and rooted through his left pocket.

Malcolm caught a glimpse of a Poké Ball being retrieved and went on alert, believing he was about to release another Pokémon.

He was wrong.

An underhand lob saw the lavender cat hit right on the forehead with the ball. With the trigger pressed, the ball shot open and encompassed Ivory in an all too familiar red glow. Without hesitation, both Malcolm and Ebony rushed to her aid.

' _Crap, crap crap!'_ Malcolm chanted. _'I should have known that Gardevoir would try to hypnotize at least one of us!'_ The ball had just finished absorbing Ivory's data and dropped onto the ground, inert. _'We still have a chance! With luck, Ivory can break out and we can-'_

*Click*

Both Malcolm's and Ebony's blind rush was stopped dead in it's tracks, their minds were too busy focusing on trying to process what they had just seen. _'B-but- I- It-it didn't even roll… If a Pokémon is hypnotized when they're struck with a ball, the condition goes away temporarily to give them a chance to escape. She didn't even try to fight it…'_ He concluded.

A mixture of sorrow and crushing hopelessness prevented the two remaining intruders as President Reacher bent down and scoped up the ball that now holds Ivory. "You see? At least one of your Pokémon is willing to give us the benefit of the doubt." He said as he pivoted and walked back towards his entourage. When he relinquished his new catch to his Gardevoir's care, she clutched it to her chest as though it were a precious heirloom. She wore a happy, yet sympathetic look when she brought her attention back to the intruders.

Ebony had always been the confident one of the two Eevee. She viewed it as her personal responsibility to look after her little sister in times of crisis since she was the eldest. But she was powerless to protect her from herself. The fire that burned in her, that spark that made her the confident powerhouse of a vixen most knew her to be was gone. She felt like a failure.

Alone, she didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of protecting herself against all of the other Pokémon in the room, much less her trainer. The bond she was forming with Malcolm gave her some insight on how he felt a similar, hollow feeling in his heart.

Which is why the next sentence he growled out surprised her so much.

"Shut up…" When she looked back and up at him, she saw his face twist into a menacing snarl while his fists trembled with rage. _Never_ had she seen him loose his cool before. "If you think _that_ is gonna convince me to join you sad sacks of shit, you're dead wrong. Whatever you did to her, whatever lies that Gardevoir whispered into her mind, only proves that you really are just full of crap!"

As if to further Malcolm's rage, Tobias' face donned a tired look. "She wasn't kidding when she said you were a bit close-minded…"

"…my ass…" Malcolm muttered under his breath. After sighing out a deep breath to reign in his emotions, he takes a bold step away from wall and holds out a hand expectedly. "I'm sick of all your crap. Honestly, the best thing I can say about you is that you managed to make me angrier at _you_ than _that_ back-stabber." He jerked his head to a bored-looking Jackie. "You can take your job offer and shove it up your ass. Now, get out of our way, give me back my Espeon, and stop trying to drag us into your nonsense."

"An admirable speech in the face of certain defeat, truly, but we've already wasted too much time. Just come quietly. There's no way for you to get past security…" He gestured at the small swarm of personnel just behind him.

"Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't mean Ebony and I can't try our best to get our friend and sister back and march outa this dump."

Reacher couldn't help the smile that grew from his lips. "It would seem that Jackie's plan to get you attached to these Pokémon worked out."

"You're damn right it has." Malcolm widened his stance in case any of Prophet's henchmen got any ideas with their batons.

Ebony felt the fire rekindle in her heart. The wrong that needed to be righted was a few feet away, and she was already that close to calling it quits? Malcolm was right. They _needed_ to save her sister, and she was a fool for not figuring that out sooner. The odds weren't good, but they needed to at least give it a shot. She knew Malcolm would have her back, and she would have his! If they worked together, they could find a way to save Ivory!

Most people would have assumed the defensive little Eevee would be standing her ground in a crouched position, waiting to pounce at her trainer's defiant declaration. Instead, what everyone in the room was privy to was the sight of that same silver fox rolling around on the floor, scratching and pulling at her collar.

"Ebony?" Her trainer called, concerned about her outburst. On baited breath, everyone stood in awe as she finally managed to slip the leather strap over her head and across the room

The light fixtures on the ceiling would never be able to compare to the glow that radiated from the vixen at that moment. She was evolving! The mutual goal to rescue Ivory and the passion that inspired her to fight for her sister was enough of a connection that she needed to reach the next stage in her life.

She didn't care what she was evolving into. All she could focus on was the increased energy she would have to bring her littermate back. Rage fueled this drive. Rage at this 'Tobias' fellow for having the gall to steal _her_ sister. Rage at the Gardevoir for spilling lies and twisting truths in Ivory's ears. And most of all, rage at Jackie, for trying to separate her from his twin not once, but _twice_! Oh.. Arceus' Judgement would be a slap on the wrist compared to what she wanted to do to him!

Fury boiled her blood to a point that she was even beginning to see red… _'Wait, why does it feel like I'm…?'_

* * *

Malcolm lowered the Luxury Ball that he just stored the almost-evolved Eevee in. _'Evolving isn't a long process, but thankfully it's not instantaneous.'_ He thought. At first, he was elated both by the slight boost in their chance at retrieving his Espeon and that he and Ebony had finally achieved enough of a sense of trust and understanding to evolve, but… _'I know I saw her tail thin out and elongate. I've been around an Espeon long enough to tell that she almost became one.'_

He had to make a split-second decision, let Ebony evolve into something she didn't want to be, or loose his very slim chance at getting Ivory back. Ebony would resent him for holding her back, but he didn't want to ruin the rest of her life because he was being too emotional.

And now, here he was. Cornered by a small mob of security and Pokémon in a hidden facility in the middle of the desert. One of his Pokémon stolen from him, another he stole and could count on it's allegiance, and one more that he couldn't risk letting out until night time.

Now he really was at the end of the line.

Tobias and the rest of the security team seemed to reach the same conclusion. "For whatever it's worth, I think you made the right decision…" Reacher spoke softly.

"Yeah…" It didn't make the young hacker feel any less defeated.

Prophet's leader turned to the Gardevoir behind him. "Vicky, if you would be so kind." He nodded his head at Malcolm.

"Gard." She nodded back, speaking in a feminine voice that practically oozed authority and elegance. She continued to cradle Ivory's new Poké Ball in her left arm and brought the right up, pointing directly at the one remaining intruder.

"No harm will come to you or your Pokémon." Tobias assured one last time. "We can try again to convince you to join our cause once we're back at our office building. Maybe there, I can show you just what it is that Prophet seeks to accomplish with these methods."

Just then, Malcolm felt the tendrils of someone's psychic influence on his brain. He could tell because he had Ivory practice her psychic on him to determine how to use it in a battle while she was still carrying Junior. He figured the Gardevoir 'Vicky' was about to put him under with Hypnosis.

He closed his eyes in anticipation. That last stunt with Ebony's close-call taking the last of the wind out of his sails.

"Now, Vicky, Hypno-"

"Hydro Pump!" Another voice called out from behind one of the doors.

' _I didn't think Gardevoir could learn Hydro-'_

The door closest to Malcolm burst open with two halves of the automated door being propelled by the water pressure and into the crowd of security.

His head snapped to the opened door and saw the ones responsible for the mess. In the open threshold stood a Vaporeon with the most sardonic grin he'd ever seen on a Pokémon and a young man with fiery red, shoulder-length, spikey hair and a lab coat different from the one Dr. Bryce had been wearing.

The newcomer scanned the room until he laid eyes on Malcolm. "You! Come on! We need to go. Now!"

In his stupor, Malcolm almost started after them. Reminders of Ivory flashed in his mind as he looked towards Tobias and his Gardevoir. She still held the ball close in her arms and was using her free hand to psychically move the blast doors off of the security personnel.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation?! Move your ass!" The red-head shouted.

Even with this latest unexpected development, he was doubtful of his ability to retrieve his Sun Pokémon, so he glared back at the ones responsible and made one internal vow to them, and to himself: _'This isn't over!'_

With regret and heartache over leaving behind his pink feline companion, he darted after his apparent rescuers.

* * *

Pokémon were generally kind and gentle creatures. Cruelty wasn't a trait commonly found unless instilled by a rotten trainer. Some developed a phobia of them at a young age likely due to an unfortunate accident or misunderstanding, though few truly feared them.

When it came to this Vaporeon, however, Malcolm _learned_ to fear it. The thing was absolutely terrifying! If a blast door was dropped in front of them to block off their escape, it sliced through it like a hot knife through butter with a laser-thin Scald that melted through steel. If a crowd of security managed to cut them off, a Hydro Pump that put out enough pressure that put riot control hoses to shame was used to throw them against a far wall.

The rescuers seemed oddly familiar with the layout of the upper portion of the facility, though Malcolm did have to rig a few work-arounds whenever their path needed them to take an elevator. Before long, they were bombarded by the arid, desert air once they made it past the final door to the outside.

The red-haired scientist continued to lead him to a car lot just next door to the main entrance and the pair lifted one of the old trucks in storage there with the Vaporeon acting as a sentry, blasting away anyone who got close.

They drove off into the horizon with Malcolm in the passenger seat, the stranger driving, and his partner keeping an eye out in the back. The interior was fairly spartan, to the point that the three of them were surprised that the seats actually had upholstery.

A half hour later and no signs of any pursuers let the trio relax slightly and recline back into their respective seats. The Vaporeon looked like it finally keeled over from the exertion and was quickly recalled into it's ball by the younger man.

The other human broke the resulting silence soon after. "Okay, talk. What's going on? What were you and all those people doing there?" He looked over. "Are you seriously on your phone right now?!"

In the middle of his questioning, Malcolm pulled out his phone and began checking it's coding and encrypted systems. He was silent for a moment. _'Can I trust him?'_ He pondered. _'He wouldn't have bothered with the rescue if he was with Prophet. I was all but caught, they wouldn't need this guy for a- What cross are we at now? Triple? Quadruple? So he's not with them, and there isn't a company in the region bold enough to put themselves on their radar, so he doesn't represent any of the other corporations.'_ Deciding he didn't have much left to lose, (and a ridiculously OP Vaporeon so close to him) he began explain the situation.

"I'll start with the easiest one. I'm checking my phone for any bugs, taps, or trackers. Which leads me to who I am. I'm a freelance hacker," He offered a hand to the driver. "Malcolm, by the way." He made no response, so he continued. "The long story short is that a former acquaintance lured me out here for a job, but it was a setup to force me to join there club of crazy."

"What makes you such a hot commodity?"

Malcolm shrugged. "Apparently because I can throw a ball halfway decently."

The stranger quirked his eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Hey don't gimme that look! That whole fiasco was supposed to be some recruitment effort. They were hoping to find others who would share their ideals, but what those bastards have done doesn't sit right with me at all."

"What _did_ they do?"

Malcolm shook his head at him. "Not telling. I appreciate you bailing me out of that situation back there, but this is something I need to talk to the right people about, not some kid who may have just stumbled into this mess by acci-"

"My name is Michael and I'm the reason anyone else even knows that place exists. It's dangerous to leave it in the wrong hands because Cipher made Shadow Pokémon there about ten years ago. Now start. Talking."

Dots were connecting in Malcolm's head and he was rather disappointed in himself for not piecing it together sooner. _'I mean, how many other red-haired trainers with an Eeveelution do I know?_ ' "Okay, you made your point." He said, holding up his hand. "But we need to find somewhere safe to lay low first, and between Jackie and… someone else… going rogue they know where I live."

Michael nodded. "Yeah, and I didn't exactly keep a low profile by having Siren blast our way out of there either. Do you have anyone you can trust to let us crash at their place?"

Malcolm's phone just gave a notification that there was no malware detected. He sighed in relief that he wasn't stripped of _everything_. "I do have one, but I'm hesitant to drag them into this…"

The veteran trainer looked right at Malcolm, the lights of Gateon's buildings peeking over the horizon. If these guys are rely planning on making more Shadow Pokémon, then they're already involved. Prophet is a threat to the whole region."

"I get it. It's just that, well… this is gonna be really awkward on _so_ many levels."

They were just about at the city limits as Malcolm made the call.

…

" _Hello?"_ Came a girls response on the speaker.

"Hey, Scarlett? It's Malcolm. I need a favor…"

* * *

Malcolm had endured many trials today. His literal partner in crime sold him out. He became wanted by the most influential business conglomerate in the country. And to top it all off, one of his Pokémon had been snagged before his very eyes. But none of that could have prepared him for the trial he now faced as he and Michael stepped into the home of the only other human he had placed his trust in.

Scarlett's apartment was more modest than his own. The TV was about 10" smaller, there was no chair for Ebony to claim for her own. And the couch was the deep maroon color that looked like it had been picked up at a yard sale. The walls were decorated with a tacky yellow wallpaper and the floor had a grey carpet spread on it. There was no attached kitchen like his old place had, but apparently the teenager compensated through other means.

Chinese take-out and pizza boxes were strewn about the place, as well as a couple of water bottles lying here and there on the coffee table. The abundance of clutter began to cause one of Malcolm's eyes to twitch as his obsessive compulsion to keep things tidy began to act up. He stayed his hand for the time being though since he was a guest.

The culprit responsible sheepishly scratched at the back of her neck with a feeble smile. "Yeah, I kinda wasn't expecting company out of the blue… Sorry…" She offered when she noticed Malcolm's expression.

He couldn't hear her apology, he was too far gone in the disaster that was her living room. After a short pause without a response, Michael jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow to bring him back to the conversation. "Ah- mmnn, it's fine. I'm sorry for having to spring this on you." He said as he rubbed the tender spot on his torso.

After letting the two men in and closing the door behind her, she offered them a seat. "About that. You're one of the more put-together people I know, so why are you asking to bunk with the teenage chick you've known for only a few months?"

A blaring ring tone originating from Michael's pocket drew him to the side hallway behind the couch to talk in private without interrupting.

"As sad as this may seem, you really are the most reliable and trustworthy person I know who I can turn to." He paused to let that sink in. "I really need to expand my circle of friends."

"Speaking of friends, where are Ebony and Ivory? Your normally not one to store them in their balls." I'm sure Skip would want to see his mom."

' _I hadn't thought about-'_ "Wait, 'Skip'?" Malcolm asked.

His host shrugged. "He likes to prance around a lot. Guy has so much energy in him I wouldn't be surprised if he evolves into a Jolteon _without_ a stone."

Malcolm curled forward on the couch, resting his head on his entwined hands. _It feels like I'm about to talk to my kid after his parents got a divorce. Like I let the whole family down.'_ He sighed deeply. "That's, sort of why I need to crash here. Something… bad happened."

A look of panic-infused worry spread on the teens features. In a flash, she was perched ++++on the couch besides him, holding him in a half-embrace with one arm. "Arceus, are they okay? Are _you_ okay? What happened? Why can't you go back to your place? Should I get Snaps and Skip-?" She released a torrent of questions at him faster than he could process. Fortunately, Michael just got off the phone and got both of their attention.

"They attacked the HQ!" He wasted no time explaining every word he was told over the line. "I have to go help drive them off!" He looked directly at Malcolm.

To say that he wanted to join in would be an understatement. There was nothing the freelancer wanted more than the opportunity to get his Espeon back, but… "I don't have any Pokémon that are fit for battle right now. I'd just get in your way." He said sullenly from the couch.

"I'll go! My Pokémon are asleep but I can go get them real quick!" Scarlett ran off to her bedroom down the hall behind Michael to collect her party. "Malcolm, you guys can stay here for as long as you need. Just get some rest." She tried to be as sympathetic as she could while she practically shoved her fellow red head towards the door.

"When we get back, we'll talk more about what happened. If this is another Shadow incident, I'll need to be informed about everything I can." He said from the threshold.

Malcolm nodded and zoned out for a bit after the two left for the HQ building. With his mind on autopilot, he set off to clean the living room of his new temporary living space. His mind relished the thirty minute window of just doing trivial stuff. For a while, he didn't have to worry about Shadow Pokémon, Prophet, Jackie… Ivory… His thoughts always went back to her.

Did they really trick her into joining them? Was she not satisfied with him as a trainer? …Did she believe all of their propaganda?

Another sigh escaped him as he sat down on the couch in the middle of the marginally cleaner room as he cleared his thoughts. Asking questions that no one had answers to would get him nowhere.

He cleared his mind and fished out the Luxury Ball in his pocket that still had an occupant. He would need to cancel Ebony's evolution as soon as he let her out. "I just wish that was the hardest bombshell I would be dropping on her tonight."

Her ball felt heavier than usual. It took all of the willpower he had in him to lightly press the release button and let the Evolution fox out. He was immediately bombarded with the bright light of an evolving 'mon, but holding that same button caused the growing energy to burst like a bubble , leaving a silver Eevee whose face still bore a determined scowl morphing into confusion.

Ebony looked around frantically, trying to make heads or tails of her sudden change in scenery. Malcolm had put her in stasis just to be sure the evolution didn't occur inside the ball. "Vee?"

"Hey, girl." He said softly. Malcolm tried to put on a reassuring face, but it easily came off as dejected. "This is Scarlett's apartment. She's… out for the moment. We got lucky and I managed to escape."

The vixen squeaked out an inquiry, wanting to know what happened.

"You were evolving, so I stopped it."

He could tell that the next question she growled out was a "Why?"

"It was still daytime. I'm no expert on Eeveelutions, but I know that an Umbreon doesn't poses a long, slender tail."

The Eevee went on a rant about how it wasn't his call to make. How he should have taken every advantage any evolved form+ would have given them. Malcolm was honestly surprised at how much he was able to pick up on his Pokémon's monologue. He guessed some of the synchronicity remained to the point where he could understand her without _understanding_ her.

Her venting went on for a few minutes, verbally hammering away at his stoic resolve. She said he was a bad person for dragging them into this mess, that he was a bad trainer for letting her sister be taken. Tears streamed down her cheeks, matting her fur as she went on.

She said he didn't care about them at all…

And that was all he could stomach.

"I get it, okay!?" His voice cracked, a detail the Evolution Pokémon didn't fail to pick up on.

When she peered through the stinging moisture in her eyes, Ebony saw that she wasn't the only one going off with the waterworks. A single bead of water rolled down his chin, pooling there before gravity ripped it away from him. The remorse and denial he had been holding in for the last couple of hours finally broke free, giving the vixen a front row seat of his breakdown.

"I get, that you just had your sister taken away right in front of you. You feel like you've lost someone dear to you, but… But you're not the only one, dammit!" He accentuated his frustrated shouting by slamming his fist down on the armrest of the couch then covering his face with his hand.

"I feel like shit, like _I'm_ the reason she went to them. The thought alone hurts so bad I feel like I'm supposed to wake up soon from this nightmare." He stopped himself from going any further into that abyss of self-loathing. Now, more than ever, he and Ebony _had_ to stick together.

"I won't let you become something you don't want to be on blind hope. Heh. I guess that's my selfish perfectionist talking." He laid himself down across the couch and lifted Ebony from her underbelly to move her to his chest. "Besides, we both know Ivory well enough to know that if she were brought out of that ball to see you as anything other than an Umbreon, for her sake, she would never forgive herself."

Ebony was too caught up listening to her trainer speak that she completely overlooked his bold maneuver when he brought her to his torso. _'He has a point.'_ She figured. Malcolm began to run his hand down her back absentmindedly. An unspoken agreement that they had both vented what they needed to was made.

"Whatever Prophet's up to, whatever schemes they have planned for Ivory, we'll sort them out. We will get her back! And we're gonna do it, together, as an Umbreon and her trainer…" He muttered off some encouraging words as he drifted off to sleep, hand still on Ebony's back. The days excitement proving to be quite taxing on the young man.

Ebony's consciousness lingered a moment longer. She had been wrong about him. He always came off as aloof to her. Compassionate on occasion, sure, but ultimately distanced from forming a connection with anyone. Yet, here he was, breaking his own façade down over the disappearance of a single Espeon.

The mystery of why her sister evolved into an Espeon for him so easily didn't seem so difficult anymore. She was just better at reading others.

Regardless, the vixen took his words to heart. They _would_ save Ivory! One way or another. Just one trainer, and his… Umbreon…

The two were out like a light, letting their worries fade into the background while their minds went into a peaceful slumber.

So peaceful, neither of them even stirred when a familiar glow encompassed the Eevee's body…

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I had some spare time to work on this chapter and I just couldn't stop myself. So bam! Two in one month, baby! Getting back on track!


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Family Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right is reserved for Game Freak, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company. I can only claim responsibility for my OC's.

* * *

If not for the fact that his phone was likely the only useful possession he had access to right now, Malcolm would have destroyed it when the alarm went off at daybreak.

As it was, he switched off the incessant ring tone and stared at the ceiling, letting his memories of the previous day resurface at their own pace. Jackie, the infiltration, the betrayal, Jackie, Ivory, the rescue, mother fucking Jackie…

Slight movements on his chest reminded him of Ebony's presence. He absentmindedly started rubbing under the 'mon's ear while he lamented that he was woken up by an alarm meant to wake him up to put a collar on the vixen's neck that was likely lying forgotten on the floor deep under the hidden research lab.

…

"Shit!" Wakefulness purged the lethargy from his system. "Ebony, we gotta get up and find you a replacement… collar…" He trailed off as he lifted his head to look directly at his Pokémon. What he was expecting to see was the small, fluffy, silver bundle of fur. What he got was the significantly larger, sleek black mass laying on his stomach.

"E-ebony?"

A single spire of black fur, an ear, rose from the larger dark lump and a single, yellow eye drowsily opened and lazily regarded him back.

"Bre…?"

A small part in the back of his mind knew this was likely Ebony and rationalized that she must have evolved overnight. Unfortunately, that part doesn't kick in until his morning coffee or noon, whichever came first.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

* * *

Just down the hall outside of the apartment, Michael, Scarlett, and Siren were dragging their feet the last few steps after a long night. Malcolm's cry, muffled by the walls and ambient noise of the rest of the building, went unheard by the two humans, but the Vaporeon's superior hearing allowed her to pick it up with ease.

Immediately, she turned and addressed her trainer. "Michael! That human from yesterday is under attack!"

"If it's not one thing, it's another." The fatigued trainer groaned. Siren barked out a command to follow her to where she heard the scream, leading them to Scarlett's door. "Siren's picking up trouble in your apartment! We need to get in there!"

"Malcolm!" The teen cried. A brief fumble through her purse later and she withdrew the key to her place.

Michael confiscated it and shoved it into the slot on the doorknob and shouldered his way inside after a quick twist of his wrist. Siren burst in past his legs and surveyed the area for the source of the shout.

Malcolm sat upright on the couch, clutching his chest to quell his frantic pulse, while an Umbreon sporting light-blue rings sat opposite from him. Siren knew who Malcolm was but had yet to be introduced to the Moon Pokémon, so she tackled it out of precaution.

The unsuspecting dark-type was quickly subdued at Malcolm's feet. The Vaporeon loomed over it and growled. "Don't. Move."

Excitement, fatigue, and wariness thickened the air. Malcolm was about to speak up to have Michael call off his Pokémon, but Ebony had beat him to the punch. As she laid their, pinned under the impossibly strong Bubble Jet Pokémon, an oh so familiar scent wafted into her nose. A scent she never thought she would bump into here of all places.

"Mom?" She said, quirking her brow at the aquatic canine pinning her to the couch cushion.

Siren's eyes bulged wide as her ear-frills extended to their full length. She put more pressure on her prey and leaned down to take her scent. Almost immediately, a sense of nostalgia and affection began to well in her chest and the perfect pin that she had subjected the young Umbreon to quickly became a far more crushing hug.

Ebony was then made to endure a high-pitched squeal directly into her ear as her mother nuzzled her neck. "OHHHHHHH, my baby!" She cried. "I've missed you soooo much!" The hug reverted back to a pin, only now Siren had a far more adoring expression as her tail-fin swung back and forth gleefully. "You look so cute! Are you well? Did you get enough sleep? You look a little thin. What are you doing here? Did Scarlett catch you, or-?"

"Mom!" Ebony shouted, ending the bombardment of inquiries. Siren released her hold when she began to try and wriggle free. Now back on her own four paws, she gave her mother a warm nuzzle back and murmured, "I missed you too, mom." Causing the water type to sigh and close her eyes blissfully at her heartfelt reunion with her firstborn daughter.

But something still felt… off.

Breaking away from the embrace, Siren sniffed the air around her looking for another scent. "Where's your sister?" She failed to notice the dark-type flinch. "You two were practically inseparable while I was raising you."

Before Ebony could inform her mother about the situation regarding Ivory, a cute voice piped up that rekindled her dreadful emotions. "Auntie..?"

Biting back a remorseful tone, the newly-evolved Umbreon turned to face her nephew. "Hey, pipsqueak." She said, softly.

Siren whipped her head back and forth at the two as her brain processed new information. "Did- did he just call you 'auntie?'" She asked her Umbreon daughter.

Ebony nodded in turn. "My little sister, now named 'Ivory,' evolved into an Espeon, went into heat, and got pregnant with him this last season."

The Vaporeon finished copping with the news as a squeal built up in her throat. With a screech, she lunged for the young Eevee and picked him up by his scruff before bounding next to Michael, who had sat down on the other side of the couch, and plopped down on his lap.

"What're you-?" He asked, looking down at his partner.

"Mmmmm, grandpup!" She interrupted in a sing-song voice, not even bothering to stop her relentless nuzzling and cooing over her newly-discovered grandson.

Malcolm's eyes glanced between the spectacle Siren was putting on, Ebony's partially embarrassed expression and the affectionate pats Michael was placing on Skip's head. "I feel like I'm missing something."

"Me too," Scarlett said, rubbing at the bags under her eyes. "and that thing is sleep. Just gimme a few hours before we get into anything else." She began her march towards her room, Snaps in tow, completely oblivious to how tidy her apartment suddenly was. "Malcolm, you stay for as long as, yada yada, you know the rest." She mumbled.

He chuckled as she closed the door to her room down the hall behind the couch. "Appreciated." His attention turned to Michael, who still had a glowing Vaporeon nuzzling the Eevee pup over his thighs. "So… is she like that for every Eevee she comes across?"

Michael's soft expression hardened as he looked back at the only other human in the room. "Nu-uh." He shook his head. "First things first; I want answers. What where you doing in that old Cipher lab dressed like that?" He gestured towards the black sweatshirt and matching cargo pants Malcolm had put on for the trip.

Figuring he was going to be in for a drawn-out discussion, Malcolm settled into his corner on the couch and sighed. A hand was placed on Ebony's head to scratch at her ears absentmindedly. While staring at nothing in particular on the ceiling, he asked, "Which version do you want? Long or short?"

"Long. I want to hear everything, from the beginning."

"It'll take a while to get every relevant detail…" Malcolm warned.

The red-headed young man shrugged. "I've pulled worse all-nighters than this before I started growing hair on my chin." He ran a hand along his recently shaved cheek for emphasis. "Trust me, I can keep up."

Malcolm regaled him with his experience with Prophet so far, of how Jackie had set him up using Ebony and Ivory as bait, their stolen access codes, the Snagging virus, the use of a Shadow move, everything. He kept Ivory's and Buneary's Snags to himself though.

Michael had kept his attention squarely on Malcolm through the explanation for the better part of an hour, a feat unto itself considering how Siren was resting on his lap, using her paws to keep Skip suspended above her in a playful fashion.

Ebony kept to herself. Her mother and nephew were enjoying their time together and she didn't want to butt in. She didn't understand why her trainer wasn't saying anything about Ivory, but was grateful that she didn't have to worry their mother or Ivory's own son with that sort of news. When the other human's eyes flicked briefly over to her however, she got the feeling that she had spoken too soon.

"What about her sister?" Michael gestured to Ebony. "I haven't seen an Espeon roaming around."

Suspicion aroused, Malcolm leaned forward from his side of the couch and pulled Ebony back and behind him, as if trying to hide her. "I never said they were siblings… and you know that she's an Espeon, how, exactly?"

The younger trainer put his hand in front of him to calm Malcolm down before using that same hand to root through his pockets. "Years ago, I bugged that lab to tap into security and research data in case something like what happened, happened. When your Espeon started destroying the equipment, she also destroyed whatever was jamming my malware." He fished out a small, black box from his back pocket. "And Siren told me about the sister part."

When Malcolm raised an eyebrow, that same box was passed over to him above the trio of Eevee. "Put that on, it's an older model, but it should work for everyone here except for Snaps. Only so much storage space."

"That doesn't explain why _your_ Vaporeon would know about how _my_ Pokémonare related." Malcolm stated as he put the earpiece in.

"Oh, right. She's their mother, Ebony's scent gave it away."

Malcolm's eyes widened for a moment. His Espeon and Umbreon were born from one of the strongest, most distinguished Pokémon in the region?! What were the odds? He looked down, closed his eyes, and chuckled under his breath. _'Of course they were likely related. Eevee are_ rare _, especially so in a still-blooming region like Orre.'_

"So, where's Ivory?" Michael pressed. Siren shifted on his lap, now coiled around an exhausted Skip.

Indecision ravaged Malcolm's thoughts. Should he tell them? Siren's her mother, and Ivory's own offspring was right there as well. _'They have a right to know, but-'_ He looked over to Ebony for help, and received a stern, yet sad nod in return.

"Ivory, she- they Snagged her." Malcolm said, his voice low to keep from disturbing the kit's well-earned rest.

It was so quiet in that apartment that one could hear a pin drop a block away.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't think I heard that right. 'Snagged?'" Michael muttered.

"Ebony, could you take the little one to his trainer? I don't think he should be around for this." Siren whispered to her daughter. Malcolm blinked in surprise when he heard a new, feminine voice speaking so softly. Despite the sour turn the conversation was taking, he was utterly shocked.

"Sure thing, mom." He heard a deeper, somewhat coarse, yet still feminine voice respond. Siren gently lifted the tired Eevee onto the back of his aunt for Ebony to see him back to Scarlett's room.

He could understand them? Was that _really_ a conversation he picked up on between two Pokémon? Their lips still moved in a manner that suggested they were still only speaking in their native tongues, but the wording was clear as day.

Michael cleared his throat to get his attention back on track. "Just what do you mean when you say she was 'Snagged?' You can't mean that-"

Siren had lunged for Malcolm to pin him against the back of the couch. They were nose-to-nose and all Malcolm could see were a pair of dark eyes glaring at him. "Where's my baby?!" She hissed quietly, extending her claws into his shoulder for grip.

"I mean exactly what you think I mean." Malcolm said, keeping his voice steady. "Prophet's CEO, Tobias, Ivory just walked up to him and let him Snag her. The ball he used didn't so much as tremble." His voice became softer the more he spoke. "I think that the Gardevoir he had with him might have had something to do with it. Convinced her to join them or something. Nothing else explains how she would know what was going to happen?"

Behind the still-looming Vaporeon, Michael nodded. "It makes sense, but why would she side with people who are looking to abuse Cipher's old research? The fact that those two became the two friendship Eeveelutions means you can't have mistreated her to an extent that she would go with _them_ of all people."

At this, Siren took a few whiffs of her daughters' trainer. When a connection was made, she lurched back a few inches and examined his eyes. A look of revelation crossed her face as she hopped off Malcolm and she went back to her own partner, content with her discovery.

The red-haired trainer pinched his chin in thought and mumbled, "Maybe she was clued in by the device on his arm?" He said this more to himself than anyone else.

Though the question wasn't directed at him, Malcolm winced. He had hoped to avoid bringing up the Snag virus and Buneary. Being an admitted criminal didn't exactly foster a trusting relationship, and fessing up that he had access to the ability to steal _any_ Pokémon in front of the guy who burned Cipher to the ground didn't seem like a good idea.

' _But even so… I need him. Prophet_ without _access to Shadow Pokémon and Snag tech would be too big to expose alone, let alone with those things. I can't afford to alienate even a single potential ally.'_

"It… he wasn't wear any sort of device. The method they're using to Snag is purely software." Malcolm said. Ebony strutted past him on the couch and took her original seat back.

Michael was skeptical. "I don't believe that. Both known models were bulky gauntlets that weight at least ten pounds. There's no way a company, even as big as Prophet is, could get it to that point in only a few years."

As Michael spoke, Malcolm removed a single, standard Poké Ball from his pocket and switched it to its readied, larger form. "If I remember correctly, your device functioned by altering a ball thrown from it just before it's lobbed." He said as he stared at his warped reflection in the red half of the capture device. "What they've done is create a sort of program that infects your trainer ID that allows all Poké Balls under your registration to bypass all other anti-theft mechanics on another trainer's balls.

"It's completely inconspicuous, simple to mass produce, and totally untraceable. And on top of all that," Malcolm released the spherical device's contents a few feet from the couch in a blinding light. A battered Buneary stood stock still, a scowl etched on it's face. "I can prove that it works." He concluded.

Michael was on his feet in a heartbeat with Siren taking an aggressive posture in front of him as they both glowered at Malcolm. "Tell me you didn't steal someone's Pokémon at random _just_ because this 'virus' lets you!"

Malcolm remained seated, staring at the brown rabbit. He was expecting this sort of reaction. Though he had silently held out hope that an expert at dealing with Shadow Pokémon would have a device that would let him know when one was near. "Snag tech isn't the only illicit technology they've been reviving. The Buneary is a Shadow Pokémon."

To say that Michael was skeptical would be an understatement. He cautiously stalked towards the Rabbit Pokémon and inspected it's condition and disposition. Stepping back, he glanced back to Malcolm. "She seems like what you'd expect from a stolen Buneary; angry, injured, distant. It's impossible to tell a Shadow Pokémon apart. What makes you so positive she's been altered?"

"While we were battling with the scientist that controlled it- _her_ , he used a move called 'Shadow Blitz' on Ebony-"

"Bun!"

Quick as a bullet, the fleet-footed bunny shot over in front of the unsuspecting Umbreon sitting on the couch and uncurled her ear into Ebony's cheek. The force of the impact was so strong, loose furniture and glassware rattled slightly in the kitchen a few yards away.

When the same move was used on Ebony before she evolved, it knocked her out in a single hit. This time around, the shiny dark-type took the hit without giving so much as a hint of discomfort. She even smirked with the impressively strong ear pressing into her cheek.

A smirk that only managed to draw out a growl from the Buneary.

"Alright, that's quite enough!" Malcolm interjected before things could escalate. He picked up the volatile Shadow Pokémon and swiftly placed her on the coffee table in front of the couch. He was surprised that the rabid fur ball wasn't trying to lay _him_ out. _'I guess this means she'll at least listen to me…'_ He concluded.

A faux-nonchalant cough brought his attention back to his other Pokémon. "Sorry, Ebony. I wasn't expecting her to take that as a literal command." He rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic smile.

In reply, she waved off his apology with her front paw. "Meh, I hardly felt it." She wasn't lying, either. Her cheek felt tender, yes, but she felt as if she would have taken more damage from biting her own tongue.

"Yeah, Umbreon are notoriously thick-skinned." Malcolm nodded. _'Arceus, it's jarring, hearing her talk.'_ Turning to Michael, he asked, "So, do you believe me now?"

"All I saw was a Pound attack." He crossed his arms. "It's an illegal move to encrypt your Pokémon's commands in official tournaments, but some punks do try it in the hopes of getting a leg up. For all I know, your planning on using your team in back-alley pit fights." His eyes closed to a dangerous glare.

The Vaporeon's smooth voice eased the tension hanging in the air in a single sentence. "I trust him."

"You do?!" Everyone else, save for Buneary, responded.

Siren merely nodded before giving her trainer an expectant look and patted on the couch next to her. Once Michael acquiesced her invitation, she leaned into his ear and whispered her findings.

Malcolm was blessed with hearing that was unable to detect what Siren was saying. Ebony, however, was not so fortunate.

"He's Ivory' mate. His and Skip's scents were so similar it's uncanny."

"Mom…" Ebony quietly hissed.

"I raised my babies to be good kits, there's no way she would have laid with him if he's as nefarious as your accusing him to be."

"Mom..!" The Umbreon's pleas grew louder…

"Besides, those blue eyes looked so _cute_ on that little scamp! Maybe I'll get a few more grandkits out of them if we keep him around..."

"Mom!" All subtlety was abandoned as the younger Eeveelution pried her mother off of her trainer and dragged her behind the couch by her ear-frill.

Once the pair were out of sight, Malcolm turned back to Michael and noticed the blank expression with his pale cheeks glowing red from a blush. No words were spoken by the two of them as they waited for their Pokémon to hash things out.

* * *

Ebony released the vice-like grip on her mother once they were behind the couch. The humans on the other side were still being quiet, but she was confident the gist of what she was about to say would be lost on Malcolm. She hoped so, antway. Ivory had said that she wanted to come clean about what she did, so Ebony kept her nose out of it so her little sister could have the chance.

She brought her gaze back to Siren as the Vaporeon rubbed her assaulted frill. "What's the big idea?!" She groaned. "If your worried that Michael's gonna report their little dalliance to the authorities, I can assure you that he'd be the last human to do so."

"No, mom, it's not that simple." Ebony paused to take a deep breath and organize her thoughts. She silently cursed her sister for leaving her in such a position, but it was the only way to make sure that Malcolm wouldn't find out he was Skip's sire. "*Sigh* You're right. Skip _is_ theirs, but Malcolm… doesn't know that." Her speech transitioned into a whisper for the last part, as though doing so would soften the blow. "He wasn't really 'involved' in it, you know?"

Siren tilted her head. "So, what, he never got 'the talk', or..?"

"I don't know, maybe? But what I'm saying, is that Malcolm wasn't too receptive to her advances, so she…" The Shiny Moonlight Pokémon awkwardly wrung her front paws together.

"Ah, he's one of those hard-to-get types." Siren nodded sagely. "Yeah, that apple didn't fall too far. Your father the same way before I-"

"Arceus-damn it mom! Ivory raped him, okay?!" She hissed loudly, tired of beating around the bush and not caring about subtlety anymore. The kids were asleep and there was no way Malcolm could understand her. "She put him to sleep when he refused to quell her heat a couple months ago and rode him until she was satisfied! She even cleaned up afterwards to leave him none the wiser.

"She's been wanting to come clean to him about it for a while now, but never had a good way to bring it up or reliably discuss it. I don't know what she was thinking when she went with those other guys, but I don't want Malcolm piecing things together before Ivory gets the chance to explain herself. So that's why I need you to not go around blabbing about it to everyone. I know Malcolm can't understand our language, but I'd like to keep the risks to a minimum- Mom, what're you…"

All through Ebony's rambling, Siren had been taking her eyes off of her daughter to look at the edge of the couch. The further along she went, the quicker her eyes flickered between the two points, with an equally increasing amount of anxiety becoming apparent of her face. When the younger Eeveelution finally took notice, she looked over her should to see what was making her mother so worried.

Over the edge of the couch Malcolm leaned. His expression was completely neutral, but Ebony could see the vortex of emotions raging underneath. "We need to talk." He withdrew from the back of the couch.

Ebony looked back at her mother, her ears pinned to her head and her heartbeat racing. "You don't think he's too upset, do you?" She asked.

"Now!" Malcolm called over his shoulder in a raised voice. It was more an authoritative command than anything else, but the Umbreon flinched as though it was a sharp crack of thunder.

"Maybe a little." Siren responded with a sympathetic nod.

* * *

The dark-type sat next to the Shadow Buneary on the floor while she explained things to her trainer. The very same rabbit that had slugged her in the cheek not even ten minutes ago, because she felt far safer there than next to her trainer. Siren had retaken her original spot and lounged on Michael's lap.

It didn't hurt that since she wasn't receiving any orders to attack, Buneary had decided on taking a nap.

Malcolm sat quietly as he listened to his Pokémon's story. A tense couple of minutes passed after she finished. Michael and Siren retained a respectful silence for lack of any meaningful input.

"The past twenty-four hours have not been kind." He muttered. "So, what's the plan? You have some way to purify Buneary, right?" He asked Michael, much to the scientist's surprise.

"Well you certainly moved on quick." He noted. Both he and Siren were wide-eyed in surprise. "You don't have any questions? No angry ranting?"

"The only one I'm disappointed by is in the hands of the enemy right now. If I want answers, I gotta get to her. So answer the question." Malcolm's voice was coated in venom, showing just how short his fuse was.

"Well I hope you're ready for the situation to go from bad to worse. The HQ was _decimated_. My old Snag Machine was stolen, the Purifying Chamber was reduced to scrap, every terminal was wiped of all data, and to top it all off, the place was completely abandoned. The researchers, my family, my Pokémon, all gone."

Malcolm's heart sank as he turned to look at Buneary. She had managed to fall asleep standing up. Her head was slumped forward and a string of drool was hanging from the corner of her mouth.

' _She looks so adorable when she doesn't have a menacing stare.'_ He noted.

He had all his hopes riding on Michael still having access to the same resources he had when he took on Cipher, but now… Now they were on their own. Just an former black hat, a novice trainer, and a colosseum veteran and their Pokémon against a Tech company with seemingly infinite resources.

The sound of a door being gently opened and shut alerted them all to Scarlett's presence as she shuffled down the hallway towards the living room. "We didn't wake you, did we?" Michael asked softly.

"Nah, I couldn't get a wink of sleep. I've been an early bird since I was in diapers." She groaned as she stumbled into the same room, revealing her choice of sleeping attire to be an oversized tie-dye t-shirt nearly covering a pair of short-shorts that only reached to the very top of her thighs. Malcolm was close to raising a fuss over her outfit in the presence of two adult men until he realized he _was_ bumming on her couch, so he kept his mouth shut. "So what's going on?" She inquired as she made her way to the fridge.

"I was just telling Malcolm about the lab." He replied stiffly, apparently having a similar reaction to Malcolm in regards to her appearance, much to his Vaporeon's amusement.

She grunted in response as she fished out a nearly empty carton of orange juice and proceeded to chug it in one go. A satisfied exhale of air as she finished was released as she slammed the now empty jug on the counter and wiped her mouth on her forearm. "And what's the deal with the rabbit?" She jabbed a finger at Buneary, who growled lightly back at her for having woken her up.

"That would be my Buneary." Malcolm answered.

"Hmm. And why's it glowing? Your not allowed to train Pokémon in the building."

Ebony, Siren, and Michael turned to investigate the supposed 'glowing', but to them, they saw the same, scowling Shadow Pokémon that they were expecting to see. Michael shrugged and shook his head when Malcolm raised an eyebrow at him, asking a silent question.

"Uhhh, it's not."

Scarlett quirked a brow of her own. She then proceeded to rub her eyes and squint right at the normal-type for several seconds before giving a huff in annoyance. "If you say so. Maybe I'm hallucinating from sleep depravation, but I could swear it's glowing purple." A ring tone from her phone cut her off. She reflexively went to check the pockets that her shorts didn't have for her phone before she recalled where she placed it.

The two males in the room resumed their task of avoiding having to look at her as she fished her cell from her bra. Malcolm in particular went through a sudden realization at this point. _'I gave my firstborn son to this girl a couple days ago… Arceus help me.'_

"Do either of you guys own a Houndoom by chance?" Scarlett asked. "That was the manager asking about a Pokémon in the lobby that won't leave."

* * *

Ivory was released onto the cold, stiff cushion of a leather chair, the material groaned as her weight settled. She shook her head to try and recombobulate, apparently being 'Snagged' was quite a jarring experience. The room she was in about the size of the living room in Malcolm's apartment, more or less. The floor was lined with small, white tiles while the walls and ceiling were a dark blue and gray respectively to balance out the shine reflecting off the floor from the bright overhead lights.

Across from her was a low, glass table and matching chair. Sitting there was that same Gardevoir from earlier, Vicky. One of her slender legs crossed over the other at the knee and her hands rested in her lap. For a moment, Ivory was mesmerized. She looked composed, confident, determined, yet the serene expression she wore made her feel welcomed.

Tobias' head came into view as he leaned over the table and placed a plain Poké Ball in the empty ash tray on the table. Ivory waited for him to speak to either her or Victoria, but he only turned around stiffly and, without a word, walked to the open door at the end of the room. The clack of his dress shoes and the hiss of the automated door as it shut were the only sounds he made.

Silence permeated the room for several seconds as the Espeon continued to take in her surroundings. When she settled back into her chair, Victoria spoke verbally in her airy, regal voice, "Tea?" At Ivory's nod, the Embrace Pokémon's visible eye glowed faintly and made no other moves.

She sunk back further into the chair and relaxed her posture slightly. "You don't need to be so on edge. I'm sure you have no end of questions. Ask away."

"Alright." At her host's behest, Ivory leaned into one of the cushioned armrests of her chair and curled her tail to drape it over the other side. "I guess my first question would be to ask where Malcolm is. Did you manage to-"

Faint amusement curled the Gardevoir's lips slightly. "Unfortunately not. Though I do find it humorous that the reason why he isn't here is because of _you_." She punctuated her statement by covering her mouth as she giggled. Ivory's head tilted and she continued. "Those machines your trainer ordered you to decommission also filtered the info that was mined from our computers to an external site. As a result, another trainer brazenly breached our facility with a walking riot hose of a Vaporeon in tow."

Ivory speculated on that bit about the Vaporeon. _'Mom was one, and a strong one at that. And she did say that she was trained by a human male, but I never met him.'_ "And what about my sister? I'm sure Ebony would have at least strongly considered teaming up with you."

"I'm guessing you haven't tried your hand at telepathy if your asking me that. Consider this some advice from a more practiced psychic-type: it is far easier to overtax yourself than one would think when dipping into the minds of several people at once. And your sister was recalled to her ball before I got the chance to speak to her."

The door hissed open and a woman dressed in a deep blue business suit came in and deposited an expensive-looking tea set. She offered both the Pokémon a courteous bow and withdrew herself from the room.

Victoria lurched forward in her chair and picked up on of the cups while Ivory grabbed the other telekinetically and stared into the reflective, brown surface. "So why me then?" She looked up in time to see the green-haired Pokémon give her a guilty smile as she poured… a lot of sugar into her cup. "Why speak to me first instead of Malcolm or Ebony?"

The Gardevoir rolled her shoulders but gave Ivory a warm smile. "Out of the lot of your group, I sensed a kindred spirit in you. I'll spare you the details, but I could sympathize with a great deal of the emotions you were feeling. The gap between humans and Pokémon has kept me from someone precious as well." Her tone turned melancholy as she turned away for a moment to reflect.

Somewhat satisfied, Ivory hummed while she tossed around a few other questions in her mind. She took a sip of her tea while her inquiries stewed and immediately found out why Vicky had been so quick to add so much sugar to her cup. "Blegh!"

A glowing spoon hovered over her cup and twisted to deposit it's load of sugar crystals into her beverage and began stirring the concoction. The giggle from across the room drew her attention back to Victoria. "I'll admit that it's not my first choice, but this brand does a good job of relieving mental fatigue." Her expression turned serious as she fixed her attention on the lavender feline. "Would you be willing to answer some of _my_ questions now?"

Ivory was shaken by the sudden turn, but nodded nonetheless.

"Thank you." She took another sip of her tea. "Now, when I offered you the chance to have a future with your master, did you have any clue on what I meant by that?"

"I can't say that I did. You just said that it would take a great deal of effort to do it, but I'm willing to do whatever's necessary to get his attention."

"And how big of a risk are you willing to take in the pursuit your dream?" Victoria asked, the temperature in the room dropping a few degrees as her gaze turned piercing. "Prophet isn't in the business of playing matchmaker for every unfortunate soul. Our main goal is far more ambitious. At the risk of sound overly theatric; we are aiming to change the world."

Ivory was surprised by her tone shift, but not once did she waver.

"Humans have been preaching that all Pokémon should be treated as equals, yet the most impact we have on society is for entertainment. A small variety are also used in construction or health care, but _never_ without human supervision. And any desires to pursue a career or an education requires a _human_ to have final say

"And heaven forbid they develop an attraction to one of us! The line between simple house pets and Pokémon has become so obscure to human society that it practically doesn't exist." Her gaze fixed solidly on Ivory. "You problems and mine both stem from _that_ particular notion.

"Humanity is long overdue for a wake-up call about these outdated ideals: that is Prophet's end goal." Victoria slid forward in her chair and placed her tea cup back on the tray and laced her fingers in front of her face as she stared intently at the feline across from her. "I know I'm dropping a lot on you and expecting you to take even more on faith alone later on, but I need to know where your allegiance lies before anything else is divulged.

This will be your last chance to back out amicably. If this isn't something you're up for, I won't hold it against you. I can have you back with your master by the end of the day. But joining us will put you on opposing sides with him until we can recruit him to our cause, essentially making you enemies for the time being. However, that may be the only way you can have a peaceful life with him as your mate.

"So, are you in? Or out?"

Ivory stared up at the ceiling for a bit and closed her eyes. To reject Victoria and merely hope that she can work things out with Malcolm, or make an enemy of the man she loves and her big sister (albeit temporarily) and maybe help other Pokémon who feel as stuck as she did?

To her, it was never even a question.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I don't know how I have less time to write than I did before quarantine, but I did something, dammit.

I spent _forever_ just trying to decide if I should diverge story paths or not, so that's a good portion of where the delay for this chapter came from. Prophet loses a good portion of it's enigmatic nature, but it gives Ivory and her new accomplices more opportunities interact.

Anyways, that's enough of the director's commentary. Socially distance yourselves, and what have you. And as always, thanks for reading.


End file.
